Chapter 44: Twilight Over the Whole Earth
We have ruled out the Arctic and Greenland. Now, we have only the Antarctic. It will take time to put together the resources needed for another manned expedition, but for now, aerial searching will have to do.
Katsuragi has proven to be a rather zealous researcher. Zealous enough to prioritize his research over his family, it seems. We have guided him subtly, ensuring the path that he takes supports us. As expected as many of his results are, there have been some surprising twists that he has taken.
In that same vein, another researcher, tied far more closely to us, came into prominence recently. The recent new husband of our Japanese representative. One Gendo Ikari. His budding link with Katsuragi has led to yet more interesting possibilities. Both would be promising leaders of our future mission into the Antarctic. Who to choose…
- From the personal journals of Lorenz Kihl, May 1998
Tokyo-2, November 26th, 2016
First Lieutenant Satoshi Hitamo of the Tokyo-2 Prefectural Police Department walked the streets of his city, Second Lieutenant Michiko Hashigari by his side. For all the changes that had settled in, especially in Little Korea where they were stationed, that had never been altered so fundamentally as everything else seemed to have been.
Even still, as they walked their beat, the changes were the most interesting thing to talk about, when all was said and done. "So," Hitamo said, glancing over at his partner as Hashigari looked around with wide eyes, "how's the whole Interfacing thing going?"
"It's…" Hashigari shook her head. "You've got to experience it to know. It's amazing."
Hitamo nodded, looking around himself as he watched a group of aliens (something he still had trouble wrapping his head around) passing by, seemingly untroubled by the chill and the snow (something he was grateful to see again, even if it made walking the beat a little trickier sometimes). "I'll take your word for it. How's your sister?"
Hashigari shrugged. "Kimiko's settling into her technician position over at HERZ." she chuckled slightly. "All the way over in Tokyo-3. Just when I thought we were done having two Tokyos."
"My dad's in the construction business, if you remember." Hitamo replied. "He says that his company is seriously considering jumping at whatever bid gets put up to rebuild Old Tokyo. Forget two. We might just have three."
The two of them shared a chuckle. "That's nothing compared to the wild shit my sister tells me the higher-ups in HERZ are thinking of." Hashigari said after a moment. "I mean, the craziest one, get this. They're seriously considering building another base in a couple of years. On the moon."
"Now you're just talking out of your ass." Hitamo said somewhat dismissively as he shook his head.
"That's what I told her." she replied with a shrug. "Then she showed me some of the documents on how they were planning to do it.." Hashigari shook her head slowly. "I mean… they're…"
She trailed off as her eyes narrowed, and Hitamo looked around where Hashigari had focused on, a clump of people across the street near a business high-rise. "What do you see?" Hitamo asked.
"Someone in the middle of that crowd. They've got a rather heavy backpack, filled with something mostly solid. They're looking terribly skittish too. Hold on."
As Hashigari finished speaking, Hitamo felt an odd sensation sweep over him. It must have been Hashigari connecting herself to his soul, as he next saw a brilliant tangle of lines in the crowd, a line from Hashigari reaching out towards the man whose lines positively thrummed with what Hitamo assumed was anxiety.
Finally, Hashigari's line connected with the man, a Chinese gentleman named Lin, and they got a peek into his thoughts. 'Simple and easy… wait for the signal… the bomb takes care of everything…'
Hashigari disconnected from the man's lines as her and Hitamo's eyes grew wide. Hitamo took a deep breath. "We need to stop him. Now. "You go around the left side of that crowd. We'll pinch him off and take the bomb from him while he's surprised."
"Got it. I'll keep you apprised on whether or not he gets the signal."
Hitamo nodded, and the two separated and crossed the street, diving into the crowd as discreetly as they could.
Hitamo's heart pounded in his ears as he made his way through the crowd, the people parting as he kept them quiet as best he could. His service pistol, a New Nambu Model 64, a Japanese-made semi-auto pistol with 9 rounds of 9mm, felt heavier than its usual weight was. He'd only ever used the gun a few times, during the tail end of the chaos of the Impact Wars period. Would he be forced to use it again?
'Ready?' he heard the distinct voice of Hashigari in his head as he came close and slowed his approach.
He did his best to let her know that he was, somehow, as he saw his fellow officer approaching the man. "Excuse me, sir? Do you need help with that?" he heard her ask sweetly.
He watched the man jump, digging into his hoodie and pulling out something small. With that, he dashed forward, grabbing the man's wrist and twisting what was clearly a detonator out of the man's hand. "Look out! He has a bomb!" Hitamo shouted as he sent the man to his knees, the crowd screaming and pushing over themselves to get away as Hashigari reached for her radio to call for reinforcements.
"Damn you! The New Chinese Communist Party will triumph!" the man said as Hitamo cuffed him, kicking the backpack away.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Hitamo replied. "Right now, you're under arrest for attempted terrorism and unlawful possession of ex-"
He was cut off as he heard a series of thunderous booms, followed by screams and the crash of debris, from all around him. But, most worryingly of all, he felt the ground beneath his feet rumbling.
Hitamo looked up the street as he saw it buckling up, something rising from the subway tunnels a kilometer or two away. He couldn't believe his eyes as… a massive, utterly black arm, with a glowing, translucent pylon on its shoulder, reached up and grasped a building in front of it, pulling up a form that he had only seen in the news.
"It's… an Evangelion…" he said numbly. He looked over at Hashigari as she looked back at him, a dazed look in her eyes. Then she looked past him, her eyes' focus sharpening as she pulled out her pistol and pointed it at someone behind him. "Stop! Stop or I shoot!"
As she fired one shot, then another, Hitamo turned to see another man as he tumbled down a few meters away from him, bleeding profusely. Before he could move, he saw the man's hand reach out for the detonator, grabbing it.
And as he moved to kick it out of the man's hand, a thumb pressed a button.
And thus, a block of the Iizuna prefecture of Tokyo-2 disappeared in a flash and thunder of baleful fire as the Evangelion got to its feet and roared.
. . .
Hokuto Ground Force Base
First Lieutenant Musashi Lee Strasberg had a pit in his stomach as he waited for Eva A-1 to finish forming. He glanced frequently over at Keita, a far more openly anxious look on the man's face as he waited for A-2 to finish forming as well. Less frequently, he looked over at the screen that contained Second Lieutenant Kotone Suzunami, a younger pilot with pale pink hair from a dye-job long past, expressive brown eyes flitting back and forth with an openly pensive look.
"Alright." he finally said, drawing both pilots' attention to him as they came to t-1:30 before the Evas were fully formed. "We know what our targets look like. They're just Evas. No monsters, no aliens, just Evangelions with the same capabilities as ours. An AT Field we can defeat. Pilots we can put the pressure on. Compared to what's come before, this is a cakewalk."
"Suzunami," he said, looking purposefully at her, "you're fresh to all this, so keep your distance. Remember to neutralize the AT Field as you fire on them. Asari and I will get in as close as we can, keep them tied up."
"What about the civilians?" Suzunami asked. "The last thing I want to do is go and trample on someone because they haven't evacuated yet."
Before Musashi could reply, Major Fujimori's face appeared on the screen. "The evacuation is proceeding as best it can, Lieutenant Suzunami. Your focus is on the enemy Evangelions and taking them down as quickly as possible. If you can neutralize their AT Fields, Ground and Air SSDF forces will assist when and if they can.
"Pilots," she finished as the Evangelions finished forming, Suzunami's A-3 sporting a sash of deep red, "good luck."
With that, they dashed towards the plumes of smoke that marked where the warzone that had become Tokyo-2 was, a thunderous drumming going before them as they hoped against hope that the people of the massive city would be as safe as they could.
"Come on, mom and dad." Musashi heard Keita mutter under his breath. "Just get out of there. Please."
Their stride, massive as it was, still had them waiting a long, long 40 minutes as they charged towards the city, the plumes of smoke growing larger and larger as more and more aircraft passed overhead going in all directions.
As the city came within sight, a screen bearing the logo of HERZ came to life, the logo replaced in a flash by a serious face, grey eyes framed by red glasses under dark hair. "Pilots, this is First Lieutenant Mogami of HERZ. We're reading that you have three Evas in your area. Are you going to be needing any assistance?"
Musashi considered the request for a moment, then shook his head. "We'll try and handle it ourselves for now. We'll get your assistance should we need it."
"Acknowledged. We'll channel them to other hotspots then. You'll be able to call for reinforcements, they'll just be somewhat more delayed."
"Other hotspots?" Keita asked. "You mean there are other Evas attacking Japan?"
"Pilot…" Mogami trailed off. "There are attacks happening all over the world."
The pronouncement sent a shockwave through the pilots minds. "Oh my." Suzunami said, a hollow look in her eyes. "I wish them luck then."
"Good luck to you as well pilots. Let us know if you need assistance."
With that, Mogami's face disappeared, the city looming large as the sound of crashing buildings, wailing sirens, and screaming people mixed together into a cacophonous symphony of utter chaos.
It wasn't hard to spot the enemy Evangelions in the distance, their utterly black forms striding through the city as they knocked over buildings with an almost breathtaking callousness. They weren't exactly hard to spot either, the enemy Evas roaring as the JSSDF Evas entered their notice.
The savage challenge took the pilots aback for a moment. "The Evas can do that?" Suzunami said, a startled look on her face. "Can ours do that?"
"No time to find out." Musashi replied. "Nullify their AT Fields now. Keita, you take the one on the right, closest to us. Suzunami, keep the one on the left far away from us. I'll take the one between them."
"Alright." Keita replied as they entered the city, taking care as best they could to not trample anyone by accident. "Let's defend our home."
Thus, Keita and Musashi charged, brand new Progressive Glaives leveled at the enemy, Kotone leveling a heavy burst rifle at the dark Eva, the foe shifting to the side… and revealing a very particular blue and white flag.
"Wait a minute…" Kotone's eyes widened as she centered the target again, a 3-round burst of 340-millimeter shells screaming towards the target. As it dodged to the side, the shots slamming into a building behind it, her suspicions were confirmed. "Guys… one of these Evas has UN markings on it!"
"What?" Musashi said incredulously as he jabbed at the Eva in front of him, stabbing into its stomach and shoving it against a building, its shoulder showing the Russian Federation flag as it grabbed at the haft of the spear to try and pull it out. "Why would they be working with a Russian Eva?"
"Not just a Russian one," Keita interjected as Musashi glanced over to see him stab through the palm of the Eva he was engaging, "a Chinese one too!"
"Where did these things come from?" Kotone said, crystalizing the question on all of their minds. "Who's piloting them?"
. . .
Half a world away, Mavuto watched the advancing Evas, three of them, and wondered the same thing.
He'd managed to lure them out of Nairobi with a slug from his newly made, custom shotgun, the utterly dense round slamming into a raised AT Field as they turned.
And as they turned and began to walk towards him, he saw the flags that they bore on their shoulders. The crossed white and black feathered spears on red denoting the symbol of Old Africa, an anti-Union group, terrorists, really, the flag of the Arabic States, and the flag of the UN.
He hoped Lady Nakiri and her blooming boyfriend would get here soon. Even more than Hikari and Toji, however, he wished Okomah-Mordi had his own Eva too. Numbers were hardly a bad thing in this sort of fight.
"Alright." he said slowly to himself as he took a hand off of the body of the shotgun, confident his Interfacing would allow him to aim true even with one hand, and reached for the short, stout Progressive blade, hooked slightly at the halfway point of the blade, attached to his left hip. "Fair or not, you play with me."
'And,' he thought with a grin that was shrinking as his focus sharpened, 'with my shotgun. Where are your weapons, I wonder?'
Even with no weapons, they still had their combined AT Fields that pressed down on him. Best to not overexpose himself before reinforcements arrived.
It was a still moment before the one with Old Africa markings charged at him, Mavuto stepping back as he tried to nullify its AT Field. It was no easy task with its fellows propping it up, but unlike them, Mavuto had Interfacing in his side.
His focus sharpened, and with his Interfacing boosting him, his AT Field opened an invisible hole in the charging Eva's defenses. Just large enough for him to raise his shotgun as it dammed into the barrel chest-first.
He considered, in the briefest of instants before its collision, simply letting the bastard have it with a slug through its core. It would plow through the Plug as well, ensuring that it wouldn't get back up again. But… no. High Command would want to talk to whoever survived.
As the instant passed, he switched the variable shot in the gun to something resembling buck-shot and pulled the trigger.
The thunderous report sent the Eva tumbling back, its armor cracked and blood, brilliant against the black armor, spraying into the air as it slammed into the ground.
He had little time to appraise the situation before the enemy Eva's companions dashed to him from either side, seeming to play at dividing his attention. He answered by dashing into the one charging his right side, shoulder checking it away as he drew his blade and activated it, a brilliant, whirring pink-white light flashing in the air as he swiped at the one advancing on his left, missing by mere inches as the foe jumped back.
Mavuto backed up, looking down at the first one he had shot as the battle paused for a moment. It was, against all odds, struggling to its feet. He tsked softly. 'A slug it is, then.'
His senses rose to the Third Peak, time seeming to slow as he clicked the control for the shotgun back into slugs. Milliseconds stretched on as he aimed the shotgun at the still prone form of the Eva, now resting on its arms.
A pull of the trigger and the echoing boom of the slug firing preceded the slug itself flying out the barrel at an almost leisurely pace. Then, as he backed down from the Third Peak, the slug flashed forward, slamming home into the enemy Eva's chest and shoving it back down, its arms splaying out. As he danced away from a reprisal from the still-standing Eva, he glanced back at the one he had just shot. It wasn't getting back up again. 'Good.'
Of course, that still left the other two, approaching him far more cautiously as they moved to surround him. That was going to make things… tricky.
As he began to lose sight of the one on his right, he heard a crackling, snapping sound pass beneath his feet, going towards the Eva on his left. After a moment, he saw vines bulge, then erupt from the ground, snaking around the legs of the black Eva and rooting it to the ground.
Even as he kept his focus, he couldn't keep his heart from soaring as he turned to watch the other enemy Eva's head wrapped in a band of brilliant white light, then looked down as he saw the two faces he had hoped to see most, around their necks, a simple necklace with a bright red bead and a feather as their centerpiece.
"Hey, Mavuto." Toji said as Unit-04 moved over to his left, Unit-03 coming to a stop over to his right. "Everything alright?"
"So far." he replied levelly as he watched the entangled Eva use an AT Field to rip apart the vines constricting its legs. "I still appreciate the help."
"Of course, Mavuto." Hikari replied. "Do you want these all destroyed?"
"Our government would appreciate having at least someone to talk to." Mavuto said, nodding as he watched another AT Field dissipate the light around the blinded Eva's head.
"We can make that work." Toji said with a slight smile as Unit-04 hefted its mighty hammer.
. . .
Across the ocean, Orien shoved the seemingly Russian Eva away from him and into the Washington Monument, wincing as he watched the massive obelisk fold over on top of the Eva and nearly bury it under a massive pile of rubble.
This was the last place he wanted to be fighting, Orien thought, as he scanned the rest of DC, looking for the others as he prepared to get back into the fight with the Eva that was, for the moment, at his mercy as it tried to extract itself from the monument he'd dropped on it.
Marie was over by George Washington University, piloting her deep red and copper-colored Evangelion under the callsign 'Rocketeer', slapping the Chinese marked Eva and delivering a literally explosive blow, thanks to her Interfacing, that literally took its head off, the bloody meteor tumbling through the air towards him and landing in the grass in front of the (thankfully evacuated) White House.
As the headless Eva stumbled back, Marie delivered a punch to the center of its chest, a gout of flame bursting out from its back as she caught it by the arm to keep it from falling.
"Target is down." Marie said, brow furrowed in concentration as she let the limp body down gently.
"Good. Go help Neptune." Orien replied, glancing over at their newest pilot, Second Lieutenant Howard Hansen. His blue and gold Evangelion was struggling with the UN marked Eva over on the East End as it harried him, a Progressive short sword slamming into AT Fields that his efforts to nullify seemed to be having little effect on. "I'll stay on top of this one."
"Good copy, Thunderhead." Marie nodded as her Rocketeer moved towards the battle. "Take care of yourself."
"Will do." Orien looked down as the enemy Eva finished digging itself out of the rubble, getting back to its feet as it shook its head.
'Ms. Ivanov… Galina,' he thought as he detached a rather specialized weapon, a handle with a circular spool as its pommel, from his Eva's hip, 'I really hope you aren't piloting this thing.'
As the Eva took a step forward, its arms wide to try and crush him, Orien activated the weapon, a length of supremely flexible cable flashing out as it began to glow from its rapidly heating Progressive element.
Though the ribbon skated off an albeit deeply gouged defensive AT Field, Orien manipulated the cord to swing over the buildings, more and more unspooling as he began to send it swirling around himself, giving the enemy pilot a reason to pause. 'Mom always said I was good at ribbons, didn't she?' Orien mused grimly as he lashed out again, then again, his own AT Field pushing out to nullify his enemy's further and further.
Finally, it pierced through, Orien concentrating his AT Field at the tip of the cord to enhance the nearly explosive hit on its left shoulder. The impact site tore from the force, the arm hanging uselessly as the Eva clutched at it, howling all the way.
'Now!' Orien charged forward, the cord spooling back as his AT Field became a blade around the dagger-like strip that he shoved into a core his AT Field had left bare of metaphysical resistance.
The blade struck true, and Orien heard a hollow crack as the Eva spasmed, then went limp, falling further onto his weapon as it slumped over onto him.
Orien only hoped that Marie and Howard's fight would be as easy as his had been. Easy enough to put a cap on the death that had already run rampant in the heart and brain of America.
"Thunderhead, Rocketeer. The UN Eva is down." Orien sighed quietly in relief as he heard Marie's voice, looking over to see the black Eva limbless, a few of its stumps smoking.
"Good to hear." he replied. "Extract the Plug. We'll want to have a long talk with the pilot."
. . .
Arantxa sighted in the sniper rifle that had been built to her exacting specifications and watched the Russian and Nordic Confederation (how did they even have one already?) Evas converge on the one with the UN markings from well over a kilometer and a half away from Paris. On her radar screen, she watched as Lieutenant Commander Ernst Falkenrath's green and crimson EuroEva-Beta advanced towards them for a far more close combat.
"I have a shot lined up on the UN Eva." she said neutrally, her heart hiding a wave of simmering anger at the bastards who would stoop so low as an unprovoked attack on innocents. "Keep it still and I'll punch a hole through it."
Falkenrath's face on the screen, a sharp face with dark black hair and deep green eyes that had a hungry look in them, nodded in reply. "I can't promise much stillness when I get into the thick of things, ma'am. But I'll see what I can do."
"Don't worry then. I'll start things off." Arantxa's eyes narrowed, and she began to hum softly, slowly, a dirge for the poor soul on the other end of her barrel as she channeled her AT Field into an invisible tube surrounding the barrel.
She felt the field pick up speed as it soon punched through the ill-prepared defenses of the UN Eva, watching it flinch as she pulled the trigger.
With that, a specially shaped, 380-millimeter high-explosive shell boomed, cutting through the air with an angry hum as it took one second, then another to reach its target.
It struck true, blowing the top half of the Eva in two in a spray of blood and gore that reminded Arantxa too much of the 'trampoline' mines she had watched the Free Basque Army employ.
"One down." she said coolly, resolving to deal with the memories later. "I'll cover you while you go in."
"Good to hear. When I hear the boom, I'll get out of the way best as I can. Promise."
With that, Falkenrath charged forward, a Progressive Glaive leveled at that Nordic Confederation Eva that sliced through its AT Field with ease, goring the Eva in the shoulder as it dodged to the side, the blade sliding free as Falkenrath slammed the butt of the glaive into the charging Russian Eva, clotheslining it and sanding it stumbling back, the Russian falling over a building it tripped over.
Arantxa winced, hoping that there weren't too many people still in the combat area. Hoping that there weren't any people still in the area was almost foolish right now.
But right now, all she could do about it was make sure that she supported Falkenrath as best she could. No small feat, with the tangle he'd gotten himself into. 'I wonder… can an AT Field help me curve my shots somehow?'
It would be tricky, for sure. And there would be little swinging around of the gun like she'd seen in some ridiculous American movie during a period of downtime in the war. But maybe…
She locked the targeting reticle on the Russian Eva that struggled to its feet, bringing her railway gun of a sniper rifle to the right just so as she bent the tube her AT Field had created. Her brow furrowed as she focused. If she got this wrong… well, chances weren't too slim there might not be time to think about what had happened.
She took a deep breath, then exhaled, pulling the trigger as her body went completely still.
A boom, and the brilliant shooting star of her shell exiting the barrel didn't immediately end in catastrophe as it flew, and began to arc impossibly. Even still, she carefully guided the shell along the path, only barely noticing Eva-Beta tense up and jump back as she kept her focus on the shell.
The Russian Eva turned to face where the shot had originated from, which left the shell to slæm into its side, its left arm and a solid portion of its torso nearly vaporized by the blast as it howled.
"Good shot." Falkenrath said, clearly impressed. "AT Field trickery?"
"Got it in one." Arantxa couldn't quite keep the smile from her face. "That doesn't mean you should be slacking off though."
"Now, those are your words, ma'am. Not mine."
. . .
Senior Lieutenant Galina Ivanov brushed a stray dark lock of hair out of the way of her bright, cold blue eyes as they narrowed, focussing on the American marked Evangelion trampling over Moscow, raising merry hell with its EU and UN counterparts.
She'd learned, early on in training, to tune out Lieutenant Saveli Koslov's singing, watching as he charged at the EU Eva, belting out a rendition of Katyusha. Apparently, there was bad blood left in store for their part in the Second Patriotic War.
She focused on the US one, however, as she shot the Russian AMV-10 that her Eva, a rather striking ultramarine and white thing, wielded. It was little more than a localized Pallet Rifle, but it had its differences, and it still worked in pressing down on its target's defenses, the AT Field beginning to bow in under the barrage and the pressure from her own AT Field.
'You're no cellist, that's for sure.' she thought with a slight smirk as she finally broke through the defenses of the Eva, several rounds slamming into its stomach and doubling it over. 'He at least knew how to fight properly.' the smirk vanished as she considered further. 'Maybe he is fighting right now.'
A part of her remembered for a moment the piece by Kalinnikov that Orien had picked up as she charged forward. It was her father's favorite to play for her long ago. He'd done a decent enough job with it. A part of her hoped she'd hear it again.
Then, the moment was gone as she slammed into the still doubled-over Eva, bringing the butt of her rifle down on its back and pushing it to the ground. In a flash, the barrel swung down, and Galina let a burst of rounds fly into its center back.
The Eva seemingly stunned for the moment, she kicked it over, exposing its chest. "Lights out." Galina muttered with a slight scoff as she pulled the trigger again, hearing the crack that signaled that the core was breached.
Galina nodded once as she looked up to see Koslov as he shoved the EU Eva to the ground, grabbing the UN Eva by its arms and planting a foot on its stomach. He must have been using his AT Field to keep his Eva, the Golem-Tundra, stable as he pulled, the white and grey-clad arms shuddering with the effort as she heard, even from as far away as she was, the slurping snapping of its arms being ripped free, just under the howls of the Eva itself.
It was a sound nothing with a mouth should have made. So she was grateful when he shut it up a few moments after by taking the large Progressive Knife holstered at his side and shoving it into its core, the cry falling silent after a few seconds.
With that taken care of, she turned to face the EU Eva as it struggled to its feet. On a whim, she decided to activate her speakers as she aimed at it with her rifle, simultaneously nullifying its already weak AT Field. "Enemy Evangelion, this is Golem-Tantsor. Your allies are out of commission. Surrender now."
It was still for a moment, and Galina could almost hope that, whoever the pilot was, they were considering their options.
The hope came to nothing as it began to charge at her. She sighed quietly, and simply held the trigger down.
A stumble, then a fall forward into a thunderous crash as the Eva skidded lifelessly towards her, coming to a stop several dozen meters away. And that, Galina mused, was that.
"So." she heard Koslov say, looking intently at her with his dark brown eyes, set in a weathered, crag-like face that was seemingly always grim. "Do you think Wallace was in the American one?"
Galina scoffed. "Not a chance. There's a certain… elegance to his piloting, as there was to his playing. These things were brutes, more than anything. Unarmed and wildly swinging about."
Koslov chuckled, a small grin splitting the stonework that was his visage. "I can't help but wonder what else you knew he was graceful at."
"Shut it." Galina replied. "At the end of the day, the Kremlin's going to be erupting over the damage done to the city. The people that were killed. They'll want answers. Especially from those pilots we didn't kill outright."
"Do you really think they'll crack?" Koslov asked, far more seriously this time. "It could be a little while, even with our newer methods. Especially if they're witches like I think they might be."
"We'll find out soon enough." Galina shrugged. "In the meantime, I'm going to cut out the middleman, at least where it comes to the US."
Koslov was silent for a moment, then he chuckled. "You even got his phone number? My, you really did make the most of training, didn't you?"
"Yes." Galina said with surety. "I most certainly did."
. . .
Commander's Office, The Geofront, 6 Days Later
Commander Misato Katsuragi of HERZ sat in front of her desk, back straight, arms resting on its surface as she tented her hands and regarded Secretary General Beaulieu with a level expression.
Beaulieu, or at least the holographic image that sat before her in a far more realistic fashion than any video screen could offer, looked far less imposing than she had been at the founding of HERZ. She had bags under her slightly narrowed eyes, and her left eye, the one the scar sat under, twitched intermittently.
She was tired. Misato couldn't blame her for that, considering all that had been happening for the past week.
"So," she said quietly, breaking the fragile silence that had settled on them when the call started, "is there any explanation as to why millions are dead due to Evas with your flag on it?"
"No." Beaulieu replied with a quiet stubbornness. "We've been working non-stop to try and find the bastards who wore our colors to do this. So far... nothing. It's maddening."
"I have my guess." Misato said, a quiet, hard edge to her voice. "I'm sure you already know it."
"SEELE." Beaulieu nearly spat the name back at Misato. After a moment, she shook her head. "I'll admit, it makes sense. With the reach they had into the UN, agents within our Armed Response Forces would be the most likely candidates to get something as widespread as this operation off the ground." she shook her head. "And here I thought we'd been thorough enough in our purges."
"Will saying as much make a difference to the rest of the UN?" Misato asked, not daring to hope.
"Honestly… no." Beaulieu deflated at the admission. "The General Assembly is in utter chaos now. They're calling for my head, for each other's heads, for some sort of justice for those that died. And right now, beyond all the political divides that… SEELE, whoever it might have been, exploited, our flag was the throughline."
Beaulieu paused. "I don't know if I can hold it all together, frankly. Losing the superpowers of the world as we did was bad enough, but… this…"
She sighed quietly. "I don't know how much longer the United Nations will exist."
It was silent for a moment before Beaulieu chuckled. "You know," she said wistfully, "I had a dream, coming into being Secretary-General. That I would, perhaps, be the one to finally get people to realize that we were better off as a united world, that the death and suffering of the Impact Wars was caused by our divisions, our jealousies, and wants. My predecessors knew this, to some extent. But they only used it to gain military dominance, and assert themselves as kings with invisible crowns. I… I just want peace. What's best for people, the world. Now…"
She trailed off, looking down and to the side. Then, she shook her head slightly. "I thought that my dream was closer than ever to being realized after the Worldsea entered the picture. But… these aren't the days for some dreams, it seems." she said softly.
Misato didn't quite know how to respond to the poetic outburst. "Maybe. Maybe not." she decided to say. "But right now, we have to worry about what we'll do first."
Beaulieu took a deep breath as she nodded and looked back at Misato. "Yes. Yes. I'm trying my best to get everything under control here. How is everything else going for your organization?"
Misato shook her head. "Evangelions, along with suicide bombers, appeared all over the planet. We've had a few places that needed our assistance with stopping them, specifically the Nordic Confederation and the Arabic States come to mind, but otherwise, the various pilots of the nations have done a good job in keeping the death toll from spiraling out of control."
Beaulieu nodded. "We have that little."
Misato's brow furrowed. "Is there any sort of official estimate on the death toll?" she remembered her blood chilling as she read about the estimated millions that had died in Tokyo-2. Now, she braced herself for the worst.
Beaulieu shook her head, that hollow look returning. "Everywhere I've seen, even the less densely populated capitals… all of them capital cities… there weren't more than half a dozen or so estimates lower than a million."
Misato leaned back in her chair as she blanched. "Wow." was all she was capable of saying numbly.
"Yeah." Beaulieu replied with a sigh. "That's what I said. We-"
She was interrupted as something out of view on her desk chimed. She looked down, picking up the clear-pad and tapping it. Misato wondered for a moment what was hiding behind the frosted section on her screen.
She didn't have to wonder for long. Beaulieu's eyes widened, and a flame of indignation flickered to life as she continued to scan the screen silently.
After a long minute, Misato blinked as she heard Beaulieu growl and toss the pad back onto the tabletop. "Lies." she muttered. "All of it!"
"What did you just get?" Misato asked.
"Reports of interrogations made by several of the nations that captured their enemy pilots. I wouldn't be surprised if this is about to go public, too."
Beaulieu's jaw clenched for a moment. "They're saying that the UN pilots all stated that they were in command of the other national Evas, and that they were part of an operation to weaken the other nations in order to allow the UN to fully take over the world." she bit out.
Misato's eyes widened. "And what about the national pilots that were captured?"
"Those that have broken said that they were going to be working for the benefit of their nations, in so many words." Beaulieu paused, then sighed heavily. "I'm not looking forward to the next session with the General Assembly."
Misato's brow furrowed ever so slightly. "That seems… easy. Too easy."
"That's what I was thinking." Beaulieu nodded. "Any sort of investigations we might pursue into the matter have been kneecapped by the fact that no one wants us within a mile of anywhere. Were you planning on any sort of investigation yourself?"
Misato pondered for a moment on the info she had received from Shinji. Who had received it from, of all people, Musashi. "We have our theories as to how and why the captured pilots are acting as they are. We're sending people out to the JSSDF base where two of the prisoners they captured are being held. We'll figure it out. I promise."
. . .
Shiojiri Ground Forces Base
Major Eleanor Theisman waited patiently in the lobby of the base's entry building. As she had for the last 4 hours. She wore her proper uniform, the HERZ patch drawing the eyes, and whispers, of more than a few passers-by.
She had to remind herself that, even for all their autonomy, they were still, at the end of the day, a Special Agency of the United Nations. And, even for their part in fending off the anomalous Evas, trust in anything connected, however tenuously, to the organization that had seemed to be the mastermind behind what was becoming millions of deaths, was rather hard to find.
There were a few armed guards keeping watch on her. But she could take care of herself if the need arose. And she was perfectly sure that Soap and Roach, standing behind her and keeping an eye on the room, were quite capable of that, too.
Finally, one of the half-dozen soldiers she had spoken to returned. "You and your men have been cleared to enter the base." he said in a guarded tone. "You'll be riding with an escort to see the prisoners. Your men will have to stay here, however."
Eleanor arched an eyebrow. "They're my security detail." she said matter-of-factly.
"There's no need for their presence here. They, and you, will be kept safe." the man replied, only the barest hint of stubbornness in his voice.
'Why does that not comfort me?' Eleanor wondered as she followed the man outside, where an SUV waited, one of the doors that faced her flanked by two men in fatigues. One of them opened the door, allowing her to step inside and see the driver. As the door closed, the men went around the vehicle, getting into the only other seats available as they started off.
It was a silent trip. The atmosphere in the car pressed down on Eleanor, and she didn't need to use the Sight to tell that these men didn't trust her. She looked out the window, glancing at the people passing by. How many had lost family, friends, loved ones in the attack? Who of the men in the car had? She was sure it was more than she cared to count.
And, she began to ponder as the ride stretched on, that was what hurt her most of all, wasn't it? She had become numb to the immediate effects of death. The bodies that she had seen broken in almost every possible way, that she had shoved back together, in some instances, and made whole. That, she could fix. That she was a master at.
It was far harder, however, to fix what came after if she failed. The broken hearts. The hollow eyes. The emotions. Those still cut to her very core. And those were all she was able to see over the last week wherever she had gone.
It had torn her up inside. The entire point of what she was doing, HERZ, Mender and all, was to avoid those sorts of wounds. She'd seen far too many of those wounds before she had left, consigned herself to living with seeing them every time she saw the people she loved. Here… she could stop it. Make sure no one else could see what she had seen.
Her train of thought was interrupted as the car came to a stop in front of one of the buildings on the base, the driver stopping the car and opening her door as the other two men exited as well.
As she stepped out, and the car drove away, one of her escorts nodded forward. "The prisoners are being held here. If you'll follow us, ma'am."
Eleanor nodded, and the men led her into the building, harsh fluorescent bulbs shining down on ungiving cinder block walls as she walked through what was likely the detention center.
They came to a stop in front of one of the doors, and Eleanor looked over at one of her escorts. "Which pilot is this?"
"This would be the UN pilot, ma'am." the guard on her left replied. "What records we were able to find say that his name is Lieutenant Commander Vance Cooper. Former United States Army before leaving for the UN Armed Response Forces." he continued.
Eleanor nodded. "Very well. I'll speak to them alone. I won't need too long."
"That's not possible, ma'am. We're going to need to be in there with you."
Eleanor regarded the man, just a shade taller than her, silently for a moment, her eyes glancing down at the pistol at his side ever so briefly. Then, she nodded. "Very well. Stay silent, and stay out of the way. I'll need my space for what I want to try."
The man nodded in turn. "We can manage that."
With that, the other soldier unlocked the door, and Eleanor stepped into a solid, cold cell, a single chair in its center and a one-way mirror on the left wall.
The man who sat in that chair was haggard, unsurprisingly, a Plugsuit traded for a stark white jumpsuit. As he looked up at the new arrival, she saw brown eyes, narrowed and red, under black hair that had been made a mess. She didn't want to know what had been done to the man to make him crack in the first place. His tanned skin, what she could see anyway, was covered in nicks and bruises, a solid black eye only beginning to recede.
She stepped forward, staying silent as the men entered behind her and shut the door. "So, Lieutenant Cooper." she finally said.
The man nodded. "Yes. That's my name, as I've told every last bastard who comes in here asking."
Eleanor nodded once. "Okay. My name is Major Eleanor Theisman of HERZ. I'm here to ask a few more questions after that."
"HERZ?" Cooper narrowed his eyes. "The other UN pilots?"
Eleanor blinked, looking back at the soldiers, one of whom shrugged silently. "It's a little more complicated than that, but essentially yes. Why do you make the distinction?"
"We were guaranteed that you'd support us. Where were you?" Cooper pressed, a clearly accusatory edge to his voice.
Eleanor shook her head, distinctly aware of the two men's eyes boring into her back. "Then it's news to us. Who told you this?"
"The Chiefs of Staff for the ARF." Cooper said after a moment's defiant pause.
"And where did you get your Eva, the training to use it? Those hardly come from nowhere."
Cooper blinked. "I got it… I don't know where. And…"
He trailed off, his eyes widening as best they could as his breathing began to quicken. "How did I get here?" he whispered.
Eleanor decided, after a moment's consideration, to brush the soul of the soldier who had informed her of Cooper, and skimmed the knowledge that Private Yosuke Kazama had on the man.
It was… somewhat concerning. "Vance…" she said softly, the man jerking his head back up to look at her. "Do you remember Cathy? Your wife? Your children, Steven and Holly?"
"What?" Cooper's eyes widened. He began to shake. "No… no, no, no, no, no!"
His chest was heaving as she slowly advanced. She didn't need to look hard to see the utter confusion, how completely lost this man was as tears began to roll down his face. Now, though, she activated her Sight, and began to look more deeply. Her focus came immediately to his head.
It was hard to spot at first, but once she did, the signs were unmistakable. Small holes everywhere in his Frames, dots for Flux caps. SEELE had taken this pruning that they had discovered and honed it into something she even rarely saw in the wider Worldsea. It… disgusted her.
She shushed quietly as she began to patch up the man's wounds, the bruises and cuts beginning to fade away, the black eye disappearing, as Cooper took one deep breath, then another, the relief sweeping over him seeming to almost engulf him.
After long moments, Eleanor's Sight vanished, and she stepped back from a man that was now physically whole. The emptiness in his eyes remained, however, as Cooper looked back up at her. "Can…" he swallowed, a flickering gleam of desperation coming to life. "Will I ever remember?"
Eleanor opened her mouth, then closed it, preparing to tell the hardest truth she could tell anyone. "Honestly… I can't guarantee that." she said quietly.
The light went from his eyes, and without another word, he bowed his head and wept silently.
. . .
Commander's Office, That Night
"The Chinese pilot they captured was the same. And the body of the Russian pilot as well." Eleanor said to the gathered heads of staff of HERZ. "It's more than likely they've all been pruned to ensure that they'd follow their orders."
Misato nodded as she glanced over at Ritsuko. "Do you think that we'll be able to change the course of things with this info?"
Ritsuko sighed quietly. "Honestly… I'm not sure. The nations are baying for blood. The process of pulling out of the UN has already been finished for most of the nations. The others are only staying in because pulling out would push them to the brink of ruin. The United Nations won't make it to the end of the year."
Misato sighed quietly. "I wondered as much." they had very publicly stated their neutrality in any conflict that did not involve an Evangelion. And had declared, in no uncertain terms, just how they would respond to an attack on their people and bases, scattered though they now were.
She looked over at Aoba. "Any movement that we've seen against UN assets? Or one nation gearing up to fight another?"
"Most of the smaller nations are just going to war with each other or striking against UN ARF assets." Aoba replied, looking down at a clear-pad he had pulled out. "That's not unexpected. The bigger nations though, the EU, the AU, everyone who has one or more Evangelions… silent."
"They may not be as silent as you think, Aoba." Ryoji piped up. "I may have lost a good chunk of my intelligence network, but I've still got a few who trust me personally. The US, South America, the EU, Japan, at least… everybody says they're all planning a simultaneous attack on the ARF's main command center in the Alps just east of old Lichtenstein. I wouldn't rule out Russia and China pitching in, too."
"How much time do you think they'll need?" Misato said, a spike of fear stabbing into her heart at the thought of all those Evas descending on the, frankly, innocent people whose flag had become a symbol of fear outside of their control.
Ryoji shrugged. "I'd say… two weeks? Three at the most to move them into Europe. They've got their own bushfires to put out on a human scale. Whether that's skirmishing with neighboring countries to settle old scores or rattle sabers, or dealing with internal problems to make sure everyone is on board with the operation."
Misato nodded. "The League is pulling people out until we've got things under control. And… well, the Cataphract and the Sonne will be sticking around. We'll have that much to call on, should the need arise."
A silent chill swept through the room as they remembered just what the Cataphract could do.
Misato, finally, looked over at Daniel, who waited patiently to speak. "How are the pilots holding up?" she asked with a quiet note of concern.
Daniel sighed quietly. "Well, they're ready to do their duty, if nothing else." he didn't need to say anything concerning the, well, concern that the kids all had for their trainees. Their friends. "We've been trying to bridge the gap through the personal contact network the kids established with their trainees. Every attempt to contact any of the national pilots has been blocked though, either from the outset or during the first call. They don't want their pilots talking to, or listening to, anyone. Not us, not another nation's pilot, no one."
"And what does that mean for the possible attack on the Alps base?" Misato asked.
"Most likely, the higher-ups are going to be the only ones coordinating. It'll be a blow to the effectiveness of the Evas, but only slightly." his voice lowered slightly as a grim grin twitched on his lips. "You know as well as I that we trained them to be independent."
Misato nodded. "Alright. Well, we may have taught them everything that they know. But we didn't teach them everything we know. We've got a few aces up our sleeves. Interfacing, for one. And for another…"
As Misato looked over at Maya, a chime interrupted her, and she tapped on the portion of the desk in front of her, a screen lifting out of the desktop, its rear frosting over as a keyboard floated to the surface as well.
She scanned the document she had just been sent, the UN stamp prominent for her, at least, to see. Then, she sighed quietly as she gripped the thin screen, pulling it free from its position and passing it to Ritsuko. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's official. Due to recent events, the Massive Weapons Use Commitee's been gutted. They functionally no longer exist. We've also lost our Special Agency status in the UN."
"Not that it's going to matter much anymore." Ryoji scoffed as the screen was passed around. "We've got the ability to keep ourselves ready, regardless of the UN's help or not."
"Yes. Ready." Misato said quietly as her gaze returned to Maya. "Which brings me back to what I was about to say. Maya, how is the Lancium research coming along?"
It was quiet again as Maya nodded. "We've figured out the atomic makeup and how to reproduce it. It's simply a matter of putting the formula into the Frame Extruders. However, if we are going to retain the anti-AT Field capabilities of the material, it's going to be a slow process that won't yield much material until we can refine the process."
Misato took a deep breath, then nodded. "So be it. If it comes down to it, we can use the Lance copies in case we have to move on any Evangelions at a moment's notice."
Daniel hummed. "Do you think Asuka might be able to replicate it?" he asked Maya. "It would give Mari some practice with her Interfacing as well if they can do it."
"That's… not impossible. But with what we've seen…" Maya shook her head. "It's worth a try, anyway."
Misato nodded. "Sounds like a plan." she said with a quiet sigh. Then she paused for a moment. "Ryoji, this just occurred to me."
She looked seriously at him. "Do you think that SEELE might have more Evas in store? Maybe some of the MP-Evas that they seem to be able to build now?"
"Normally I'd say no." Ryoji replied with a shrug. "But… we all know they used Frame Titans instead of actual Evas. If they can make those… who's to say they can't make any more MP-Evas?"
Misato nodded. "We'll be on alert then. Keep us informed of when they plan to move out."
Ryoji nodded. "Will do." he said simply.
Misato sighed quietly, then stood. "Well, there's not much more to talk about. Daniel, get Asuka and Mari on the experiment to replicate Lancium. Have the others keep trying to contact the national pilots. If we can slip past their nets using the Worldstriders or the League, then take advantage of it. Other than that… all we can really do now is get ready."
With that, they all rose and left the office, settling in and knowing all they could really do was wait as the world began to burn again.