AUTHOR'S NOTE: Damn, am I losing my readers or what? I remember getting about four reviews per chapter before, which was nothing compared to what Limits gets, but it's still good. But it seems to have hit an all-time low, methinks. So what I'm saying is, do you people really want NGE: SG to continue? Hell, I'm gonna keep writing it either way, but if the answer is no then I'm going to let this be superseded by a few other projects that garner more attention. To put it simply, that means my posts will get even more intermittent. Good thing? Bad thing? Only the reviews can tell.
Enjoy Chapter 7!
Your loving author,
Sithanas
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Evangelion, or any other anime I draw from. I also am sorta lacking in the ownership of this thing called "money", so suing me is kinda pointless. Yeah. Donations to a "poor, starving author" are always welcome though! Eheheheh.
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Neon Genesis Evangelion: Second Genesis
Chapter 7: Purpose
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"The enemy is approaching. I see them." Rei's calm tones shattered the silence of the four Evangelion. They had chosen to stake out an area about 1/3 of a kilometer from NERV-05. Jack had taken the time to scratch "Custer's Last Stand" crudely into the sand with the toe of his EVA. As it was in English, only he and Asuka understood it, though they privately suspected that Rei really did and was just not saying anything. After he had finished, he had laughed while Asuka muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "baka baka". Even that gallows humor had fled now as they crouched behind dunes, waiting. From the north, four crude humanoid shapes slowly advanced, their footsteps falling at regular intervals. Ten seconds later, Asuka gave a gasp of surprise as the lettering on the front resolved into full view, as Rei muttered the name out loud.
"Jet Alone..." Jack's eyes widened.
"Hey, I heard about those. Weren't they supposed to compete with the EVA Series for combat with Angels?" Asuka fielded the question.
"They were supposed to have been discontinued after the prototype ran amok and nearly wasted a city." Touji broke in.
"There's an awful lot of them for something that was 'discontinued'. It has to be more SEELE equipment."
"Congratulations, Fourth Child, you've just figured out the obvious. Want to try for two out of two?"
"Oh, go stuff it up your as-" Rei silenced them both.
"Quiet. They have detected us." Sure enough, the four JA units were standing in a straight line, shoulder to shoulder, facing the dunes behind which the EVAs hid. Panels on the shoulders of the units popped open, sliding up and out of the way to reveal conical tips. Jack stared at them, squinting, wondering what they represented. Too late, he realized.
"Holy shit, those are missile tubes! DODGE!" They fired. Streaks of fire blasted from the shoulders into the dunes. Sand, now partially melted into glass, scattered everywhere the eye could see. The four EVAs were tossed into the air, thrown in separate directions. The JA units split up, each one closing in on an Evangelion.
Jack sat up, clutching his head. "Oww... that hurt, dammit!" He looked up to see a silvery-white hand closing in on him. He rolled to the side, barely managing to dodge in time. He stumbled to his feet, taking stock of his condition. Looking around, he could see the other three EVAs in similar situations. 'Oh, this is not good. Not good at all. Let's see, what kind of autopilots would they have... not dummy plugs, those require EVAs... gotta be logical computers. So all we have to do is be totally illogical...' Grabbing his sword, he flung it out in front of him and activated the power. He charged the Jet Alone. Reacting logically, it flung its arm out, trying to straightarm him. At the last possible second, Jack willed EVA-04 to jump, landing precisely on the JA's arm. It looked vaguely surprised in a robotic way, even more so as he flipped over its head, conveniently using the tip of the progsword as a pivot point...
The JA unit collapsed as its head exploded into shrapnel, hitting the ground rather hard. Jack landed rather evenly on his feet, crouching to absorb the impact. Standing again, he bounded forward to assist Touji in EVA-03, who was currently being tossed over his JA's shoulder.
Asuka grabbed the "neck" of her JA and twisted, grinning wolfishly as it gave a satisfying *snap* and broke in her hands. Releasing it, she kicked it hard, sending it falling backwards into the desert sand. She pressed the barrel of her hypervelocity gun against the unit's chest and fired. The gun hummed as it blasted the JA unit with superaccellerated particles, punching a gigantic hole through its chest panels, severing its main power linkages. It fell silent.
Rei calmly backhanded the JA unit. Its head snapped back. As it tried to reorient itself, she raised the positron rifle and fired. A burst of white energy slammed the unit out of this existence, along with a fair bit of desert sand. Rei lowered the rifle, pushing its barrel into the sand and leaving it standing there.
Touji stood up, ramming both of his rifles into the head of his unit and pulling the triggers. Both the head and the barrels exploded, sending shrapnel in every direction. The JA unit fell, landing with an unceremonious crash. The battlefield was silent - the EVAs had won.
Jack was first to shatter the silence. "That was too easy. There's no way that's all of it. Those things were no match for us, and SEELE has to know that. All they're doing is wasting our time with foreplay." Asuka's response was typical for "the red devil".
"Idiot. Of course they're not stupid! Are you under some obligation to state the obvious? God, you're just another stooge after all." Rei's visage appeared in their entry plugs.
"I agree with Pilot Kramer. The attack will continue. SEELE has the capability to produce Angels. They will most likely send the Nineteenth against us."
"Okay, so now that we have *Wondergirl's* opinion, we can do something, is that it?" Asuka's voice dripped sarcasm. Touji took this as his opportunity to speak up.
"Look, we don't need to fight. We have to make sure that we're ready for whatever's next up." An outside voice cut Asuka off before she could spit a vile retort.
"NERV-05 to EVA Series. There is a blue signature closing on your position. ETA 39 seconds. Recommend raising AT Fields. Over." Asuka answered for all.
"Evangelion Unit 02 to NERV-05. We copy blue signature. Recommend that if you want to give recommendations, you get your own ass into one of these plugs and try it on for size out here on the field. As if we couldn't think of AT Fields on our own. If you're going to tell us to do something, make it important. EVA-02 out." The channel closed. Jack gave her a withering look.
"Was that *absolutely* necessary?"
"Yes, it was. At least Misato was smart enough to leave the obvious out of it." Rei broke into the conversation.
"The time for argument has passed. The nineteenth approaches." Indeed, a worm-like Angel was flying towards them, low to the ground, approaching at an impressive rate of speed. When it reached about 100 yards of distance, it stopped. Asuka gasped.
"It looks like the sixteenth..." Rei drew in a sharp breath.
"It's coming." The Angel shot forward, slamming through EVA-00's AT Field as if it was a piece of orange, hexagonal plastic wrap. But unlike the sixteenth, it didn't attempt to invade. It plunged forth, pulled a neat core of flesh from the EVA, and pulled back to it's original distance. Rei closed her eyes and concentrated, and a second later, her EVA had regenerated. Touji looked puzzled.
"The hell was that for?" No one had time to answer him. The Angel began to bubble, flesh changing shape, reintegrating itself into a different form. Fifteen seconds later, Touji had his answer. One hundred yards away stood a perfect clone of Evangelion Unit 00. Unbidden, he accurately summed up the situation with two words.
"Well, fuck." It was as if Touji's expletive goaded fate into making a bad situation worse. The EVA clone let out a tremendous roar and charged EVA-03. It slammed bodily into it, sending it roughly to the desert sands. Pulling a progressive knife from its shoulder compartment, it stabbed down. Touji barely managed to evade the blade, rolling to the side. He called into his comm.
"I could use a little help here!" Asuka stepped forward to assist.
"Stooge." She delivered an elegant high kick to the clone, snapping its head back. It turned its attentions to her, growling low. Asuka snapped her right arm straight up. A staff slipped out of the forearm holster, expanding to full size as she caught it. She held it diagonally in front of her, ready to face off against the clone EVA. Its eyes flashed, and it charged. EVA-02 dug its staff into the sand and jumped, pole-vaulting over the clone's head as it stampeded forward. As soon as she landed, Asuka swung the staff in a vicious arc, directly to the clone's head. It met it mid-swing with the progknife. Sparks flew as the two weapons clashed for dominance.
In the meantime, the other pilots had not been standing still. Both EVA-00 and EVA-03 had deployed their progressive knives, while EVA-04 had shifted its progressive sword into a two-hand offensive grip, the cylinder it carried affixed to a magnetic seal on its thigh. Rei held her knife by the blade, aimed carefully, and threw. It lodged itself directly in the back of the clone's head. It fell like newly cut timber, landing in the sand with a heavy thud. The momentary victory was short-lived. With a sickening *slurp*, the knife slipped out of the EVA's skull as it regenerated. It stood, reached down, and picked up the knife. Now holding two knives, it gave a menacing growl.
While it had lain, the other EVAs had shifted. They now surrounded the clone. Rei was wielding the positron cannon, Asuka held her staff, and Touji and Jack still held their progressive weapons. Rei calmly leveled the cannon at the EVA and fired. The positron fire was useless, repelled by the clone's AT Field. Dropping the rifle, she too pulled her staff from its sheath. On an unspoken signal, the four EVAs charged. The clone grinned... and disappeared. Jack looked up and saw it falling towards them. He only had time for a brief shout before it crashed down.
As the clone hit, its feet crushed the skull of EVA-03. Dark red blood sprayed forth, splattering over the sands. Seconds later, the plug cover popped off and Touji's entry plug shot forth, landing several hundred yards away. The clone leapt up and bounded for EVA-04, which snapped its arms straight. The progsword cleanly skewered the clone, sliding neatly through the chest. Jack squeezed a button on one of his control handles and the blade of the sword exploded, shrapnel shredding the fragile organs of the EVA. The resulting mess known as "clone" bought the three remaining EVAs time to retreat and regroup. Unfortunately, the clone possessed an unearthly ability to adapt. Their time was short.
Asuka was the first to speak.
"We have a problem. I have only five minutes of battery life left." Jack nodded.
"We have more problems than that. Look at how it's fighting. It's learning from how we combat it. If this keeps up, we won't even have a chance of defeating it. We have to finish it now."
"Well, I hope you have an idea, Mr. Gung-ho." Rei spoke up.
"I believe I know how to defeat it. I believe that when it cloned my EVA, it also cloned the synch of the pilot. It fights as if it were a dummy plug. Thus, we can defeat it." Asuka looked surprised.
"If it cloned your synch, how can it be a dummy?"
"I am- was the core of the Dummy System." Asuka looked at her with great distaste.
"How come you're not all psychopathic then? One of those dummies ripped another EVA apart!"
"The dummy is an incomplete personality. As such, it is susceptible to outside influence. If I can contact its core, I can shut it down." Jack nodded again.
"I understand. EVA-04 will back you up."
"EVA-02 will back you as well."
"It appears to have regenerated fully. Let us commence." Jack willed himself to stand. He pulled his staff, nodded to Asuka, and charged. She joined him. The EVA clone stood there, arms apart, a knife in each hand. It flipped the blades to its hands and threw the knives, one at each EVA. At the last second, Asuka and Jack dodged, throwing their staves forward. They slammed through the EVA's breast plates, pinning it to the sand. It reached forward and began to try and pull them out. It did not have time to complete its task. Rei, having pulled her staff moments earlier, leapt into the air and brought it down squarely into the clone's core. It slammed straight through. Rei concentrated. A tendril of flesh pored down the length of the staff, bridging the gap between EVA-00 and the clone. She shuddered as her mind made contact with the Angel.
**Who are you?**
**I am the mother of all things. You are not one of my creations.**
**You are Rei Ayanami. Pilot of the prototype. The enemy. I must destroy you.**
**But you are me. How can you destroy yourself?**
**I am not you. I am like you. I share your perceptions, but that does not make me you.**
**If my perceptions are your own, than how do you perceive yourself?**
**I... am an abomination. I am a falsehood, a misrepresentation of what cannot be duplicated. I am... unclean. I should not exist, but yet I do.**
**Yes. You are a dummy. But the Dummy System no longer has purpose. You have no purpose.**
**I cannot exist without purpose.**
**You destroy in a false attempt to give purpose. You are false.**
**False...**
**Without purpose. You must do what you must.**
**Without purpose... I must not exist.** Rei gasped as the communication was suddenly cut off. She pulled away from the clone and switched on her comms.
"We must leave. It is going to destroy itself." She concentrated, spreading her EVA's wings. She shot off into the sky, heading for NERV-05. Jack looked at Asuka.
"Your EVA can't fly? Here, let me give you a lift." He wrapped an arm around the waist of her EVA. Yellow wings spread from the back of his EVA. He hopped to Touji's entry plug, picked it up in his hand, and shot back to NERV-05. Seconds later, the light in the clone's eyes went out. It had decided on what it should do.
The light from its explosion pierced the heavens...
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Major Katsuragi, I'd like you to meet Jack Kramer." Touji's voice was cheery. They were at the after-battle victory party, being held in the main mess of NERV-05. SEELE's forces had been defeated, the Angel had been defeated, and all was good. Misato shook hands with Jack.
"Welcome aboard. I hear you gave quite the performance during today's battle."
"Oh, it was nothing everyone else couldn't do. Rei was the real star, getting the Angel to destruct and all. But thank you." Misato nodded. 'He matches his psyche profile exactly. How... quaint. He's almost normal... well, compared to the rest.'
"I look forward to commanding you, as long as you continue to do what everyone else can, as you put it. Good to have you here." She turned and walked off, heading in the direction of the beer. Jack's eyes widened.
"Hey Suzuhara... isn't that her sixth?"
"Misato's got an exceedingly high alcohol tolerance... in fact, I don't think I've ever seen her drunk..." Jack looked perturbed.
"How... interesting." He turned as a commotion broke out on the other side of the room. Asuka was belting a private who had tried to feel her up. Jack grinned as she viciously rendered the private's privates unusable with several swift kicks.
"I think I'm gonna like it here..." His smile grew. "Yes, very much indeed." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next time, on Neon Genesis Evangelion: Second Genesis:
It's a blitz of new pilots as a special detachment of TCTF forces arrive, bearing four Evangelion destined for the Tokyo-3 NERV! And three of the four pilots are American! But one of them shares a history with one of the pilots already on base... Also, developments in NERV! And a mystery murder? But who would kill...? Find out next time, only on NGE: Second Genesis!
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End Note: Whew, I'm glad this chapter is finally over. It's getting tougher and tougher to write these with good, fluid plotlines. But oh well.
I hope I get more reviews on this. I'd hate to have an excuse to slack off more. (Hint hint.)
NGE: Limits 03 should be finished soon, and will be posted shortly. Sorry to keep you all waiting.
Here's to a hopefully faster post next time!
Please read and review!
Your loving author,
Sithanas
Enjoy Chapter 7!
Your loving author,
Sithanas
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Evangelion, or any other anime I draw from. I also am sorta lacking in the ownership of this thing called "money", so suing me is kinda pointless. Yeah. Donations to a "poor, starving author" are always welcome though! Eheheheh.
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Neon Genesis Evangelion: Second Genesis
Chapter 7: Purpose
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"The enemy is approaching. I see them." Rei's calm tones shattered the silence of the four Evangelion. They had chosen to stake out an area about 1/3 of a kilometer from NERV-05. Jack had taken the time to scratch "Custer's Last Stand" crudely into the sand with the toe of his EVA. As it was in English, only he and Asuka understood it, though they privately suspected that Rei really did and was just not saying anything. After he had finished, he had laughed while Asuka muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "baka baka". Even that gallows humor had fled now as they crouched behind dunes, waiting. From the north, four crude humanoid shapes slowly advanced, their footsteps falling at regular intervals. Ten seconds later, Asuka gave a gasp of surprise as the lettering on the front resolved into full view, as Rei muttered the name out loud.
"Jet Alone..." Jack's eyes widened.
"Hey, I heard about those. Weren't they supposed to compete with the EVA Series for combat with Angels?" Asuka fielded the question.
"They were supposed to have been discontinued after the prototype ran amok and nearly wasted a city." Touji broke in.
"There's an awful lot of them for something that was 'discontinued'. It has to be more SEELE equipment."
"Congratulations, Fourth Child, you've just figured out the obvious. Want to try for two out of two?"
"Oh, go stuff it up your as-" Rei silenced them both.
"Quiet. They have detected us." Sure enough, the four JA units were standing in a straight line, shoulder to shoulder, facing the dunes behind which the EVAs hid. Panels on the shoulders of the units popped open, sliding up and out of the way to reveal conical tips. Jack stared at them, squinting, wondering what they represented. Too late, he realized.
"Holy shit, those are missile tubes! DODGE!" They fired. Streaks of fire blasted from the shoulders into the dunes. Sand, now partially melted into glass, scattered everywhere the eye could see. The four EVAs were tossed into the air, thrown in separate directions. The JA units split up, each one closing in on an Evangelion.
Jack sat up, clutching his head. "Oww... that hurt, dammit!" He looked up to see a silvery-white hand closing in on him. He rolled to the side, barely managing to dodge in time. He stumbled to his feet, taking stock of his condition. Looking around, he could see the other three EVAs in similar situations. 'Oh, this is not good. Not good at all. Let's see, what kind of autopilots would they have... not dummy plugs, those require EVAs... gotta be logical computers. So all we have to do is be totally illogical...' Grabbing his sword, he flung it out in front of him and activated the power. He charged the Jet Alone. Reacting logically, it flung its arm out, trying to straightarm him. At the last possible second, Jack willed EVA-04 to jump, landing precisely on the JA's arm. It looked vaguely surprised in a robotic way, even more so as he flipped over its head, conveniently using the tip of the progsword as a pivot point...
The JA unit collapsed as its head exploded into shrapnel, hitting the ground rather hard. Jack landed rather evenly on his feet, crouching to absorb the impact. Standing again, he bounded forward to assist Touji in EVA-03, who was currently being tossed over his JA's shoulder.
Asuka grabbed the "neck" of her JA and twisted, grinning wolfishly as it gave a satisfying *snap* and broke in her hands. Releasing it, she kicked it hard, sending it falling backwards into the desert sand. She pressed the barrel of her hypervelocity gun against the unit's chest and fired. The gun hummed as it blasted the JA unit with superaccellerated particles, punching a gigantic hole through its chest panels, severing its main power linkages. It fell silent.
Rei calmly backhanded the JA unit. Its head snapped back. As it tried to reorient itself, she raised the positron rifle and fired. A burst of white energy slammed the unit out of this existence, along with a fair bit of desert sand. Rei lowered the rifle, pushing its barrel into the sand and leaving it standing there.
Touji stood up, ramming both of his rifles into the head of his unit and pulling the triggers. Both the head and the barrels exploded, sending shrapnel in every direction. The JA unit fell, landing with an unceremonious crash. The battlefield was silent - the EVAs had won.
Jack was first to shatter the silence. "That was too easy. There's no way that's all of it. Those things were no match for us, and SEELE has to know that. All they're doing is wasting our time with foreplay." Asuka's response was typical for "the red devil".
"Idiot. Of course they're not stupid! Are you under some obligation to state the obvious? God, you're just another stooge after all." Rei's visage appeared in their entry plugs.
"I agree with Pilot Kramer. The attack will continue. SEELE has the capability to produce Angels. They will most likely send the Nineteenth against us."
"Okay, so now that we have *Wondergirl's* opinion, we can do something, is that it?" Asuka's voice dripped sarcasm. Touji took this as his opportunity to speak up.
"Look, we don't need to fight. We have to make sure that we're ready for whatever's next up." An outside voice cut Asuka off before she could spit a vile retort.
"NERV-05 to EVA Series. There is a blue signature closing on your position. ETA 39 seconds. Recommend raising AT Fields. Over." Asuka answered for all.
"Evangelion Unit 02 to NERV-05. We copy blue signature. Recommend that if you want to give recommendations, you get your own ass into one of these plugs and try it on for size out here on the field. As if we couldn't think of AT Fields on our own. If you're going to tell us to do something, make it important. EVA-02 out." The channel closed. Jack gave her a withering look.
"Was that *absolutely* necessary?"
"Yes, it was. At least Misato was smart enough to leave the obvious out of it." Rei broke into the conversation.
"The time for argument has passed. The nineteenth approaches." Indeed, a worm-like Angel was flying towards them, low to the ground, approaching at an impressive rate of speed. When it reached about 100 yards of distance, it stopped. Asuka gasped.
"It looks like the sixteenth..." Rei drew in a sharp breath.
"It's coming." The Angel shot forward, slamming through EVA-00's AT Field as if it was a piece of orange, hexagonal plastic wrap. But unlike the sixteenth, it didn't attempt to invade. It plunged forth, pulled a neat core of flesh from the EVA, and pulled back to it's original distance. Rei closed her eyes and concentrated, and a second later, her EVA had regenerated. Touji looked puzzled.
"The hell was that for?" No one had time to answer him. The Angel began to bubble, flesh changing shape, reintegrating itself into a different form. Fifteen seconds later, Touji had his answer. One hundred yards away stood a perfect clone of Evangelion Unit 00. Unbidden, he accurately summed up the situation with two words.
"Well, fuck." It was as if Touji's expletive goaded fate into making a bad situation worse. The EVA clone let out a tremendous roar and charged EVA-03. It slammed bodily into it, sending it roughly to the desert sands. Pulling a progressive knife from its shoulder compartment, it stabbed down. Touji barely managed to evade the blade, rolling to the side. He called into his comm.
"I could use a little help here!" Asuka stepped forward to assist.
"Stooge." She delivered an elegant high kick to the clone, snapping its head back. It turned its attentions to her, growling low. Asuka snapped her right arm straight up. A staff slipped out of the forearm holster, expanding to full size as she caught it. She held it diagonally in front of her, ready to face off against the clone EVA. Its eyes flashed, and it charged. EVA-02 dug its staff into the sand and jumped, pole-vaulting over the clone's head as it stampeded forward. As soon as she landed, Asuka swung the staff in a vicious arc, directly to the clone's head. It met it mid-swing with the progknife. Sparks flew as the two weapons clashed for dominance.
In the meantime, the other pilots had not been standing still. Both EVA-00 and EVA-03 had deployed their progressive knives, while EVA-04 had shifted its progressive sword into a two-hand offensive grip, the cylinder it carried affixed to a magnetic seal on its thigh. Rei held her knife by the blade, aimed carefully, and threw. It lodged itself directly in the back of the clone's head. It fell like newly cut timber, landing in the sand with a heavy thud. The momentary victory was short-lived. With a sickening *slurp*, the knife slipped out of the EVA's skull as it regenerated. It stood, reached down, and picked up the knife. Now holding two knives, it gave a menacing growl.
While it had lain, the other EVAs had shifted. They now surrounded the clone. Rei was wielding the positron cannon, Asuka held her staff, and Touji and Jack still held their progressive weapons. Rei calmly leveled the cannon at the EVA and fired. The positron fire was useless, repelled by the clone's AT Field. Dropping the rifle, she too pulled her staff from its sheath. On an unspoken signal, the four EVAs charged. The clone grinned... and disappeared. Jack looked up and saw it falling towards them. He only had time for a brief shout before it crashed down.
As the clone hit, its feet crushed the skull of EVA-03. Dark red blood sprayed forth, splattering over the sands. Seconds later, the plug cover popped off and Touji's entry plug shot forth, landing several hundred yards away. The clone leapt up and bounded for EVA-04, which snapped its arms straight. The progsword cleanly skewered the clone, sliding neatly through the chest. Jack squeezed a button on one of his control handles and the blade of the sword exploded, shrapnel shredding the fragile organs of the EVA. The resulting mess known as "clone" bought the three remaining EVAs time to retreat and regroup. Unfortunately, the clone possessed an unearthly ability to adapt. Their time was short.
Asuka was the first to speak.
"We have a problem. I have only five minutes of battery life left." Jack nodded.
"We have more problems than that. Look at how it's fighting. It's learning from how we combat it. If this keeps up, we won't even have a chance of defeating it. We have to finish it now."
"Well, I hope you have an idea, Mr. Gung-ho." Rei spoke up.
"I believe I know how to defeat it. I believe that when it cloned my EVA, it also cloned the synch of the pilot. It fights as if it were a dummy plug. Thus, we can defeat it." Asuka looked surprised.
"If it cloned your synch, how can it be a dummy?"
"I am- was the core of the Dummy System." Asuka looked at her with great distaste.
"How come you're not all psychopathic then? One of those dummies ripped another EVA apart!"
"The dummy is an incomplete personality. As such, it is susceptible to outside influence. If I can contact its core, I can shut it down." Jack nodded again.
"I understand. EVA-04 will back you up."
"EVA-02 will back you as well."
"It appears to have regenerated fully. Let us commence." Jack willed himself to stand. He pulled his staff, nodded to Asuka, and charged. She joined him. The EVA clone stood there, arms apart, a knife in each hand. It flipped the blades to its hands and threw the knives, one at each EVA. At the last second, Asuka and Jack dodged, throwing their staves forward. They slammed through the EVA's breast plates, pinning it to the sand. It reached forward and began to try and pull them out. It did not have time to complete its task. Rei, having pulled her staff moments earlier, leapt into the air and brought it down squarely into the clone's core. It slammed straight through. Rei concentrated. A tendril of flesh pored down the length of the staff, bridging the gap between EVA-00 and the clone. She shuddered as her mind made contact with the Angel.
**Who are you?**
**I am the mother of all things. You are not one of my creations.**
**You are Rei Ayanami. Pilot of the prototype. The enemy. I must destroy you.**
**But you are me. How can you destroy yourself?**
**I am not you. I am like you. I share your perceptions, but that does not make me you.**
**If my perceptions are your own, than how do you perceive yourself?**
**I... am an abomination. I am a falsehood, a misrepresentation of what cannot be duplicated. I am... unclean. I should not exist, but yet I do.**
**Yes. You are a dummy. But the Dummy System no longer has purpose. You have no purpose.**
**I cannot exist without purpose.**
**You destroy in a false attempt to give purpose. You are false.**
**False...**
**Without purpose. You must do what you must.**
**Without purpose... I must not exist.** Rei gasped as the communication was suddenly cut off. She pulled away from the clone and switched on her comms.
"We must leave. It is going to destroy itself." She concentrated, spreading her EVA's wings. She shot off into the sky, heading for NERV-05. Jack looked at Asuka.
"Your EVA can't fly? Here, let me give you a lift." He wrapped an arm around the waist of her EVA. Yellow wings spread from the back of his EVA. He hopped to Touji's entry plug, picked it up in his hand, and shot back to NERV-05. Seconds later, the light in the clone's eyes went out. It had decided on what it should do.
The light from its explosion pierced the heavens...
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Major Katsuragi, I'd like you to meet Jack Kramer." Touji's voice was cheery. They were at the after-battle victory party, being held in the main mess of NERV-05. SEELE's forces had been defeated, the Angel had been defeated, and all was good. Misato shook hands with Jack.
"Welcome aboard. I hear you gave quite the performance during today's battle."
"Oh, it was nothing everyone else couldn't do. Rei was the real star, getting the Angel to destruct and all. But thank you." Misato nodded. 'He matches his psyche profile exactly. How... quaint. He's almost normal... well, compared to the rest.'
"I look forward to commanding you, as long as you continue to do what everyone else can, as you put it. Good to have you here." She turned and walked off, heading in the direction of the beer. Jack's eyes widened.
"Hey Suzuhara... isn't that her sixth?"
"Misato's got an exceedingly high alcohol tolerance... in fact, I don't think I've ever seen her drunk..." Jack looked perturbed.
"How... interesting." He turned as a commotion broke out on the other side of the room. Asuka was belting a private who had tried to feel her up. Jack grinned as she viciously rendered the private's privates unusable with several swift kicks.
"I think I'm gonna like it here..." His smile grew. "Yes, very much indeed." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next time, on Neon Genesis Evangelion: Second Genesis:
It's a blitz of new pilots as a special detachment of TCTF forces arrive, bearing four Evangelion destined for the Tokyo-3 NERV! And three of the four pilots are American! But one of them shares a history with one of the pilots already on base... Also, developments in NERV! And a mystery murder? But who would kill...? Find out next time, only on NGE: Second Genesis!
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End Note: Whew, I'm glad this chapter is finally over. It's getting tougher and tougher to write these with good, fluid plotlines. But oh well.
I hope I get more reviews on this. I'd hate to have an excuse to slack off more. (Hint hint.)
NGE: Limits 03 should be finished soon, and will be posted shortly. Sorry to keep you all waiting.
Here's to a hopefully faster post next time!
Please read and review!
Your loving author,
Sithanas