Chapter 07 - Zeruel
Kaji met a man wearing thick dark clothes.
"It´s dangerous to meet here."
"I´ve got new orders for you from SEELE considering the sub-commander."
Kaji felt cold. Maybe he had been playing a gamble to many.
Sirens howled.
Kaji looked around.
"Angelalarm. You should..."
The other one was already gone.
***
NERV-command
"To all hands: Red alarm! Angelattack! Prepare for Ground-Air-countermeasures!"
The second commander Kozo Fuyutsuki stepped up to Gendo Ikari´s side.
"Target´s status?"
"Still aproaching! It just broke through the Komagatake line of defense!" - "Armor
layers one to eightteen broken!" - "The angel has just smashed through eightteen layers
of armor with only one beat!"
Tactical officer Major Misato Katsuragi stared at her screens.
"We won´t make it in time to bring the EVAs into position within the city! Unit two
will await the target within the geofront. Asuka shall open fire as soon as the angel
enters the geofront! Status of units zero, one and four?"
Maya answered.
"The Third Children hasn´t arrived yet. Unit four is waiting with unit zero. Unit zero´s
ready to neutralize the angel´s AT-field!"
"Last combat´s damage hasn´t fully regenerated yet." Ritsuko Akagi said.
"So unit zero is useless in close combat."
Gendo got up.
"If Shinji hasn´t arrived in two minutes Rei will pilot unit one."
Misato looked at him questioningly, surprised by calling his son by name.
"Prepare a backup dummyplug."
"Yes, Sir."
"Rei´s entryplug is connected to unit one. LCL injected." Maya reported.
"Begin A10 nerve connection."
The screens showed Rei folding up as if she had been hit at her midsection.
"Pulses reversed. Unit One is refusing the neural connection."
"I can't believe it..." Ritsuko mumbled.
Fuyutsuki looked at Gendo from aside.
"Ikari..."
"Yes, it's refusing me..." the commander whispered. He stiffed. "Interrupt the start-up.
Let Rei make a sortie in Unit Zero. Restart Unit One with the dummy plug."
"But Unit Zero is..." Misato protested.
"I don't mind. I'll go." Rei´s low voice came from the speakers.
"Rei!?"
"Even if I die, there will be a replacement."
The EVAs were started again, this time Rei had no problems. The start-up sequence of
unit one was still running.
"Defensive measures are of no use! One more hit and the angel will completly break
through the armor!"
Misato opened a radio-link to unit two.
"I am counting on you, Asuka!"
Shinji, where are you? Rei can´t fight with her damaged unit and Larsen is way to slow
for close quarter combat with this giant!
***
Shinji was swimming against the stream, he had run into the evacuating measures and
had been dragged along.
The earth was shaken by the angels hits.
Finally Shinji broke free and tried to regain orientation.
Next to the shelter he had been dragged to a lonely figure stood within a small garden.
Kaji?
The next second the angel broke through the ceiling.
***
Asuka smiled grimly when she saw the angel through the targetting visor.
"Ah, there you are. I´ll finish you without the others´ help!"
She fired.
Damned... no effect... Scheiße... reload...
(trans.: Scheiße = shit)
"Misato, the AT-field should have been neutralized, why is the angel still standing?"
she shouted.
I can´t loose again!
Again she fired.
The angel turned towards her, suddenly stood in towering in front of her.
Ah! No!
The next moment she felt terrible pain when the angel ripped off unit two´s arms.
Argh... Verdammter Mistkerl...
(trans.: verdammter mistkerl = damned bastard)
***
Misato shouted Asuka´s name, got no answer.
"Fast! Cut all nerve-connections!"
"Unit Two wrecked. Not able to fight."
"And Asuka?"
"Entryplug evacuated. She´s alive!"
Asuka´s loudly cursings confirmed this.
"The angel´s moving again!"
Misato tried to stay calm.
"Status of unit one?"
"Dummy plug loading complete. Probe insertion complete."
Ritsuko gave the sign to start the contact. The reading were unstable.
"What is it?"
"Pulses are disappearing. It refuses the dummy. It's failed. Unit one isn't starting."
"The dummy, Rei..."
High above Kozo Fuyutsuki repeated Maya Ibuki´s words: "... is refused."
Ikari turned towards the exit.
"Fuyutsuki, I'll leave this to you for a while."
***
Kaji´s garden
Terrified Shinji had to view EVA-02 being ripped apart by the angel. From aside unit
four came running but was thrown back with a casual hit from the angel.
Asuka... Wolf...
"Kaji, what are you doing here?"
"Well, that´s a question I should be asking you. Why weren´t you with EVA-01 and the others?"
"I had... problem coming here..."
"So, run! Maybe you can still do something!"
"But what about you..."
"I´d rather be with Katsuragi, but that´s a nice place to die, too."
"Die?"
"If the angel reaches Adam who restes below central dogma humanity will be erased with
the Third Impact. Only the EVANGELIONs are able to stop the angel."
"There! Ayanami! Without a rifle!"
EVA-00 stormed towards the angels, a container in it´s hand, N-2 was written on the
container.
A N-2-mine... that´s suicide... Rei, no! Don´t...
EVA-00´s AT-field clashed with the angel´s. The hand with the container pierced the field inch
for inch.
Then the mine exploded.
EVA-00 flew backwards, the remaining arm disintegrated.
The angel wasn´t hart, it attacked unit zero.
Shinji started running.
Unit four returned to the battlefield, a positron rifle in each hand, firing.
The angel staggered, when the positronbullets hit it´s field, jumped over unit zero
towards unit four.
The fire stopped...
***
"Does she want to blow herself up?" doctor Akagi whispered when EVA-00 appeared on the
main screen with the N2-mine.
"Rei!" Gendo screamed
"AT field, full power!" Rei said calmly.
The AT-fields came into contact, the N2-mine was pushed inside the angel´s field and
exploded.
"Rei!" Misato shouted.
"What has she done....?" Ritsuko stared with eyes wide open at the screen.
EVA-04 appeared, fell under the vicious attacks of the white figure with the black lines
and the paperthin white arms.
Then the angel turned towards headquarters.
"Pilot Larsen´s been evacuated, he´s alive." - "Direct hit to the third foundation."
- "Final armor plate fused."
"It's no good. The main shaft is exposed..." Misato heared herself speaking.
"Isn't Unit One ready yet?" Ritsuko asked.
"Dummy plug refused again. It failed. No response."
***
Gendo Ikari had meanwhile arrived at the hangar, his gaze on unit one as if he could
force the giant to move.
"Carry on. Once more, try it again from one-zero-eight."
Shinji entered the hangar.
"Father, I´m here!"
Gendo turned to him.
"You are late."
"Let me pilot EVA-01! We have no time to talk! Rei..."
"Yes. Do it!"
Shinji climed the ladder up to the catwalk where the entryplug had been already positioned.
"Good luck... son..." Gendo whispered. "If Rei´s dead, I´ll have nobody except of you..."
***
Command:
"Target has reached main shaft. Descending towards central dogma!"
"It´s coming", Misato whispered. Then she shouted: "To all hands: Evacuate! Hurry up!"
Makoto Hyuga repeated the order.
The angel reached central dogma, went smashing through the hangar area towards the
commandcenter...
... when a purple-green giant stepped into it´s path.
***
Hangar:
EVA-01 attacked the angel, throwing it through the whole hangar.
Both contrahents didn´t pause, kept hitting each other with all their might. Blue and
red blood went in all directions.
Gendo stood on the the catwalk, watching with expressionless face, not even moving when
he was hit by a wave of red blood.
He was unable to leave, unable to turn his gaze from the EVANGELION unit and his son
who fought to save them all... unable to abandon him again.
And deep inside of himself he was praying for the first time for years...
"Number 5!" Shinji screamed.
Elevator no.5 was activated, carrying EVA and angel to the surface, out of the geofront,
to a small forest.
The giants were still fighting, EVA-01 got the advantage and a rhythm.
Left-right-left-right-lift... stop...
Internal energy had just run out...
The EVA´s eyes darkened...
Shinji pushed and pulled the controlls but did not get a reaction.
"Move! Move!"
The angel noticed the situation, saw it´s advantage, smashed EVA-01 against a hill, cut
off the right arm.
"Move!"
EVA-01 shivvered feintly.
The angel kept beating upon unit one, cutting throught the chest armor like a hot knife
through butter.
"Move! Move! Please! Move!"
Below the armor was a redpulsating something, not unlike a really large heart.
"Move!"
Suddenly the EVAs eyes are glowing. It screamed full of pain and anger, intercepted the
angel´s whip-like arm, ripping it out of the socket, kicking the angel away. Again a
scream, this time full of triumph...
EVA-01 pressed the angel´s arm against it´s own stump, assimilated the tissue, forming
a new arm, attacked the angel again, ripping it apart...
And started to feast...
EVA-01 had awakened...
***
From a viewing point Ritsuko Akagi, her assistent Maya and Misato were watching.
"Unbelieveable... synchrate is above the 400% percent mark", Maya shouted. She looked
up from the screen of her laptop, saw what EVA-01 was doing to the angel, started vomitting.
"So she had awakened..." Ritsuko whispered.
"EVA-01 is eating the angel..." Misato mumbled and wished for a beer, at least in company
with five others.
"She is absorbing the angel´s S2-organ..."
EVA-01 roared a shout of victory.
Parts of it´s armor started to move when muscles formed and grew.
Maya Ibuki was still choking even with an empty stomach.
"The bindings..." Ritsuko mumbled.
"Bindings?" Misato echoed.
"Yes, that´s no armor, but binding to help us controll the EVA´s might. But now she´s
breaking free, we can´t stop EVA anymore."
"She?"
Akagi didn´t answer.
***
Kaji was watching from another point.
"Unit one awakened and broke free... SEELE will not fail to notice... Is this still a
part your scenario, Commander Ikari?"
***
NERV-command
"It has started, hasn´t it?" Fuyutsuki asked the returning Gendo.
Ikari throw his blood-soaked jackett to the ground amidst other debris. The command
center wasn´t usable anymore.
"Yes, now it all begins..." he answered.
Really...? Yui´s voice echoed within his head...
next: trapped soul
Kaji met a man wearing thick dark clothes.
"It´s dangerous to meet here."
"I´ve got new orders for you from SEELE considering the sub-commander."
Kaji felt cold. Maybe he had been playing a gamble to many.
Sirens howled.
Kaji looked around.
"Angelalarm. You should..."
The other one was already gone.
***
NERV-command
"To all hands: Red alarm! Angelattack! Prepare for Ground-Air-countermeasures!"
The second commander Kozo Fuyutsuki stepped up to Gendo Ikari´s side.
"Target´s status?"
"Still aproaching! It just broke through the Komagatake line of defense!" - "Armor
layers one to eightteen broken!" - "The angel has just smashed through eightteen layers
of armor with only one beat!"
Tactical officer Major Misato Katsuragi stared at her screens.
"We won´t make it in time to bring the EVAs into position within the city! Unit two
will await the target within the geofront. Asuka shall open fire as soon as the angel
enters the geofront! Status of units zero, one and four?"
Maya answered.
"The Third Children hasn´t arrived yet. Unit four is waiting with unit zero. Unit zero´s
ready to neutralize the angel´s AT-field!"
"Last combat´s damage hasn´t fully regenerated yet." Ritsuko Akagi said.
"So unit zero is useless in close combat."
Gendo got up.
"If Shinji hasn´t arrived in two minutes Rei will pilot unit one."
Misato looked at him questioningly, surprised by calling his son by name.
"Prepare a backup dummyplug."
"Yes, Sir."
"Rei´s entryplug is connected to unit one. LCL injected." Maya reported.
"Begin A10 nerve connection."
The screens showed Rei folding up as if she had been hit at her midsection.
"Pulses reversed. Unit One is refusing the neural connection."
"I can't believe it..." Ritsuko mumbled.
Fuyutsuki looked at Gendo from aside.
"Ikari..."
"Yes, it's refusing me..." the commander whispered. He stiffed. "Interrupt the start-up.
Let Rei make a sortie in Unit Zero. Restart Unit One with the dummy plug."
"But Unit Zero is..." Misato protested.
"I don't mind. I'll go." Rei´s low voice came from the speakers.
"Rei!?"
"Even if I die, there will be a replacement."
The EVAs were started again, this time Rei had no problems. The start-up sequence of
unit one was still running.
"Defensive measures are of no use! One more hit and the angel will completly break
through the armor!"
Misato opened a radio-link to unit two.
"I am counting on you, Asuka!"
Shinji, where are you? Rei can´t fight with her damaged unit and Larsen is way to slow
for close quarter combat with this giant!
***
Shinji was swimming against the stream, he had run into the evacuating measures and
had been dragged along.
The earth was shaken by the angels hits.
Finally Shinji broke free and tried to regain orientation.
Next to the shelter he had been dragged to a lonely figure stood within a small garden.
Kaji?
The next second the angel broke through the ceiling.
***
Asuka smiled grimly when she saw the angel through the targetting visor.
"Ah, there you are. I´ll finish you without the others´ help!"
She fired.
Damned... no effect... Scheiße... reload...
(trans.: Scheiße = shit)
"Misato, the AT-field should have been neutralized, why is the angel still standing?"
she shouted.
I can´t loose again!
Again she fired.
The angel turned towards her, suddenly stood in towering in front of her.
Ah! No!
The next moment she felt terrible pain when the angel ripped off unit two´s arms.
Argh... Verdammter Mistkerl...
(trans.: verdammter mistkerl = damned bastard)
***
Misato shouted Asuka´s name, got no answer.
"Fast! Cut all nerve-connections!"
"Unit Two wrecked. Not able to fight."
"And Asuka?"
"Entryplug evacuated. She´s alive!"
Asuka´s loudly cursings confirmed this.
"The angel´s moving again!"
Misato tried to stay calm.
"Status of unit one?"
"Dummy plug loading complete. Probe insertion complete."
Ritsuko gave the sign to start the contact. The reading were unstable.
"What is it?"
"Pulses are disappearing. It refuses the dummy. It's failed. Unit one isn't starting."
"The dummy, Rei..."
High above Kozo Fuyutsuki repeated Maya Ibuki´s words: "... is refused."
Ikari turned towards the exit.
"Fuyutsuki, I'll leave this to you for a while."
***
Kaji´s garden
Terrified Shinji had to view EVA-02 being ripped apart by the angel. From aside unit
four came running but was thrown back with a casual hit from the angel.
Asuka... Wolf...
"Kaji, what are you doing here?"
"Well, that´s a question I should be asking you. Why weren´t you with EVA-01 and the others?"
"I had... problem coming here..."
"So, run! Maybe you can still do something!"
"But what about you..."
"I´d rather be with Katsuragi, but that´s a nice place to die, too."
"Die?"
"If the angel reaches Adam who restes below central dogma humanity will be erased with
the Third Impact. Only the EVANGELIONs are able to stop the angel."
"There! Ayanami! Without a rifle!"
EVA-00 stormed towards the angels, a container in it´s hand, N-2 was written on the
container.
A N-2-mine... that´s suicide... Rei, no! Don´t...
EVA-00´s AT-field clashed with the angel´s. The hand with the container pierced the field inch
for inch.
Then the mine exploded.
EVA-00 flew backwards, the remaining arm disintegrated.
The angel wasn´t hart, it attacked unit zero.
Shinji started running.
Unit four returned to the battlefield, a positron rifle in each hand, firing.
The angel staggered, when the positronbullets hit it´s field, jumped over unit zero
towards unit four.
The fire stopped...
***
"Does she want to blow herself up?" doctor Akagi whispered when EVA-00 appeared on the
main screen with the N2-mine.
"Rei!" Gendo screamed
"AT field, full power!" Rei said calmly.
The AT-fields came into contact, the N2-mine was pushed inside the angel´s field and
exploded.
"Rei!" Misato shouted.
"What has she done....?" Ritsuko stared with eyes wide open at the screen.
EVA-04 appeared, fell under the vicious attacks of the white figure with the black lines
and the paperthin white arms.
Then the angel turned towards headquarters.
"Pilot Larsen´s been evacuated, he´s alive." - "Direct hit to the third foundation."
- "Final armor plate fused."
"It's no good. The main shaft is exposed..." Misato heared herself speaking.
"Isn't Unit One ready yet?" Ritsuko asked.
"Dummy plug refused again. It failed. No response."
***
Gendo Ikari had meanwhile arrived at the hangar, his gaze on unit one as if he could
force the giant to move.
"Carry on. Once more, try it again from one-zero-eight."
Shinji entered the hangar.
"Father, I´m here!"
Gendo turned to him.
"You are late."
"Let me pilot EVA-01! We have no time to talk! Rei..."
"Yes. Do it!"
Shinji climed the ladder up to the catwalk where the entryplug had been already positioned.
"Good luck... son..." Gendo whispered. "If Rei´s dead, I´ll have nobody except of you..."
***
Command:
"Target has reached main shaft. Descending towards central dogma!"
"It´s coming", Misato whispered. Then she shouted: "To all hands: Evacuate! Hurry up!"
Makoto Hyuga repeated the order.
The angel reached central dogma, went smashing through the hangar area towards the
commandcenter...
... when a purple-green giant stepped into it´s path.
***
Hangar:
EVA-01 attacked the angel, throwing it through the whole hangar.
Both contrahents didn´t pause, kept hitting each other with all their might. Blue and
red blood went in all directions.
Gendo stood on the the catwalk, watching with expressionless face, not even moving when
he was hit by a wave of red blood.
He was unable to leave, unable to turn his gaze from the EVANGELION unit and his son
who fought to save them all... unable to abandon him again.
And deep inside of himself he was praying for the first time for years...
"Number 5!" Shinji screamed.
Elevator no.5 was activated, carrying EVA and angel to the surface, out of the geofront,
to a small forest.
The giants were still fighting, EVA-01 got the advantage and a rhythm.
Left-right-left-right-lift... stop...
Internal energy had just run out...
The EVA´s eyes darkened...
Shinji pushed and pulled the controlls but did not get a reaction.
"Move! Move!"
The angel noticed the situation, saw it´s advantage, smashed EVA-01 against a hill, cut
off the right arm.
"Move!"
EVA-01 shivvered feintly.
The angel kept beating upon unit one, cutting throught the chest armor like a hot knife
through butter.
"Move! Move! Please! Move!"
Below the armor was a redpulsating something, not unlike a really large heart.
"Move!"
Suddenly the EVAs eyes are glowing. It screamed full of pain and anger, intercepted the
angel´s whip-like arm, ripping it out of the socket, kicking the angel away. Again a
scream, this time full of triumph...
EVA-01 pressed the angel´s arm against it´s own stump, assimilated the tissue, forming
a new arm, attacked the angel again, ripping it apart...
And started to feast...
EVA-01 had awakened...
***
From a viewing point Ritsuko Akagi, her assistent Maya and Misato were watching.
"Unbelieveable... synchrate is above the 400% percent mark", Maya shouted. She looked
up from the screen of her laptop, saw what EVA-01 was doing to the angel, started vomitting.
"So she had awakened..." Ritsuko whispered.
"EVA-01 is eating the angel..." Misato mumbled and wished for a beer, at least in company
with five others.
"She is absorbing the angel´s S2-organ..."
EVA-01 roared a shout of victory.
Parts of it´s armor started to move when muscles formed and grew.
Maya Ibuki was still choking even with an empty stomach.
"The bindings..." Ritsuko mumbled.
"Bindings?" Misato echoed.
"Yes, that´s no armor, but binding to help us controll the EVA´s might. But now she´s
breaking free, we can´t stop EVA anymore."
"She?"
Akagi didn´t answer.
***
Kaji was watching from another point.
"Unit one awakened and broke free... SEELE will not fail to notice... Is this still a
part your scenario, Commander Ikari?"
***
NERV-command
"It has started, hasn´t it?" Fuyutsuki asked the returning Gendo.
Ikari throw his blood-soaked jackett to the ground amidst other debris. The command
center wasn´t usable anymore.
"Yes, now it all begins..." he answered.
Really...? Yui´s voice echoed within his head...
next: trapped soul