Disclaimer: The Characters of Evangelion do not belong to me, I'm sorry to
say. They belong to Gainax. The rest of the characters, as well as the
Global Compact, belong to me. If you want to use them, just make sure to
tell me and give credit where it's due.
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Genetic Lessons: Battle
By Polar Kodiak
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The battered Evangelion was immediately brought back into the cocoon of the Eva hangar. A massive crater was present in what used to be the Unit's chest, cybernetic organs protruding from the gaping hole. Inside the entry plug, the pilot cursed and shut his eyes tightly, fighting the immense pain. The neural feedback from the surprise attack was excruciating, but Shinji had felt worse before. His tolerance for pain was astronomical. It had to be; if enemy forces caught Shinji, or any Fifth Variant, torture would be the obvious result. Shinji quickly reached underneath the collar of the plug suit with his uninjured arm and tapped twice on his upper chest. Moments later, the painkillers that had been surgically implanted into his chest cavity began to spread throughout his body released into his bloodstream, dulling the extreme pain he had felt.
The LCL drained quickly, and Shinji expelled the remaining liquid from his lungs, not without a little blood, the iron taste filling his mouth as it filled the space between his teeth. Taking several pained breaths, the young Variant fought off the last of the pain before stepping out onto the platform. A recovery team was waiting for him, bringing a gurney in case he was unconscious. He waved it off. "I am not so weak as to need assistance."
Shinji took one final deep breath before stumbling off to the locker room. He immediately took a beeline to the shower and turned on the cold water after doffing his plug suit, making sure not to agitate the dislocation of his shoulder. 'A perfect example of how pathetic I am. I am so wretched that I cannot even control my emotions.' He needed to get his mind from latching onto his failure. He did not need to focus on it at the moment.
"You are a miserable failure."
Iridian would remind him of it plenty. The Magistrate was not visible, as usual, but his presence was as obvious as if he had been.
"I was-" Shinji began.
"You were distracted," Iridian shot back. Shinji felt a powerful punch to the stomach, causing him to drop to one knee as the blow was powerful enough to make him double over, even with the painkillers. He felt his former mentor grasp his wrist and twist his injured arm behind his back, dislocating the shoulder yet again and sending fresh waves of pain into Shinji's brain, overruling the painkillers. His breathing once more became shallow as he felt the water turn scalding hot. Shinji did not dare get out of the hot stream of water. He knew when to accept punishment for failure.
"You had ample time to dodge," Iridian continued. "I counted. You had well over half a second. What happened?"
Shinji knew better than reply.
"Well?" Iridian pressed.
"You are right. I was distracted." Shinji stated.
Iridian kicked Shinji hard in the back, driving him onto his stomach. "By Hades were you distracted! That was even more disgraceful than your first battle with the Angels. At least you had the good sense to remain conscious! I hope your learning curve is steeper than your worthless attempts to control your emotions." He repeated the last word with disgust. "I failed you in the latter on your last examination, if you remember."
Oh yes. Shinji remembered. It was because of that failing grade that Shinji entered the Corps as an Initiate Level One instead of Level Two.
"Your Eva is being repaired. Do not fuck up next time, by Hades." With one swift kick to the ribs, Iridian departed. Shinji slowly got to his feet, propping himself up with his strong arm. Taking a towel, he slowly began drying his body off, doffing his plug suit and hanging it in his locker. On the top shelf was a silver container. Inside was a massive syringe with a dense, green liquid inside. Without hesitation, Shinji stabbed the enormous needle into his heart, depressing the stopper and releasing the painkiller replenishment into his body. He read the small note attached to the canister: 'Do not waste this batch. It will be the last you get for a while. Your monthly salary has been deducted appropriately to cover the cost. Signed, Veriias Elerbi, Variant Accounting Office'.
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"What do you mean, Shinji?" Misato asked, confused.
"Rei should not be the bodyguard. I should be," he replied, pointing to Rei with his re-bandaged arm. It was not a hard task to convince Ritsuko that he had tripped in the slippery shower stall and re-aggravated his injury. "Assume that the sniper does not destroy the Angel. The Angel is obviously going to shoot back. Whoever is holding the shield- the bodyguard- is going to have to deal with the neural feedback."
He turned to the doctor. "You have done tests on both of us. I have a higher pain tolerance."
'Almost too high,' Ristuko thought. She shook her head. "You have a higher synch ratio, Shinji. You have a better chance of hitting the target."
"I have felt the Angel's attack. I know what to expect, should the sniper miss," Shinji retorted.
"Enough," Gendo bellowed without raising his voice. "Rei will be the sniper."
There was no arguing with the Supreme Commander of NERV.
'Maybe,' Gendo thought, 'I can discover just where it is Pilot Ikari gets his interesting powers. If Rei misses, Shinji will have to take down the Angel through his usual unconventional means.'
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"May I join you?"
Rei said nothing, but did not complain when Shinji sat beside her. On the young man's left was his fully repaired Unit 01; on Rei's right was her own Evangelion, ready for the operation. The two mecha seemed to mirror the personalities of their pilots; the purple Unit 01 was poised for action, its green eyes narrow slits like a heartless warrior. The orange Unit 00 was more reserved, less curved, more polygonal.
The two teens sat on the platforms silently, looking at the mountain range before them. Softly, Rei spoke. "Why?"
"Why what?" Shinji responded, turning to her.
Rei did not face him. "Why did you insist on taking the shield?"
Shinji blinked, confused. "What do you mean?"
"You held back. During the meeting."
Shinji remained silent, and Rei did not press him further. Instead, the two of them sat quietly and listened to the night.
The young man's thoughts drifted, eventually settling on wondering what he was doing here on the planet of his birth, as opposed to a real, significant mission, or even Lunar Base back on the Global Compact's moon.
'If it were not for Crono, I would not be here,' Shinji thought angrily. Shinji's distaste for his ultimate superior was nearly omnipresent. He had never liked the Fifth Variant Elemental. Ever since Sachiko's death, Shinji had felt that the Shadow Elemental was somehow responsible. If the Fifth Variant Elemental had done something, anything, Sachiko would be alive today, Shinji reasoned. Crono had done nothing to protect his guardian from Imperial ambushes.
'Crono only saw Sachi as a Second Variant. To him, anyone not a Fifth Variant is expendable. By Hades, if it is the last thing I do, he will pay for his role in Sachi-chan's death.'
A sneer worked its way onto Shinji's lips. 'He may be my superior officer, and if it were not for his importance as the Compact's greatest spymaster I would-'
"Let go of your anger towards Crono, Shinji."
Shinji's head twisted to the right in a millisecond. Beside him was no longer Rei, but Iridian, fully visible. There was no danger of being spotted; the operation would not begin for hours yet. Much of NERV's crew were catching a quick nap before the operation. But where had Rei gone?
The older man smirked and gestured with a thumb over his shoulder. "Rei left about half an hour ago. A moron could read your thoughts by facial expressions alone, Shinji. You always have that same sneer when you are thinking of the boss."
The young man said nothing. Iridian chuckled deeply, reaching out and gripping Shinji's good shoulder with a reassuring squeeze. "Shinji, you have to get over Sachiko. Crono told me that he had warned Sachiko about Imperial agents in the area."
Shinji's chin sank into his chest. "But she was so worried about getting me to safety that she risked getting killed by Imperials, even knowing the risks."
Iridian nodded. "Got that one right from the boss's lips myself. What a reckless, impulsive act. She was a Second Variant to the end, was she not?"
A small smile slowly formed on Shinji's face. "Yes, she certainly was special like that."
The young Variant realized something, noticing Iridian's beaming smile. Iridian was actually being cordial to him. In the years that Shinji had known the Magistrate, Iridian had never been so friendly with him. Easily reading his face once more, Iridian laughed heartily. "Do not be on your guard, Shinji. This is no test."
That meant it certainly was a test. Shinji immediately sprang up into a defensive stance, his body pivoting to protect his weak side from the roundhouse kick he already knew he was on its way. Sure enough, his strong arm was positioned well enough to deflect most of the kick's energy, bleeding it away before it got the chance to do any damage.
"Good!" Iridian said, lining up a weak punch to bait Shinji's defenses. "Never let your guard down!"
Back and forth the two fought on the narrow platform, the older man easily able to keep Shinji on the defensive by targeting the younger man's weaker side. Shinji leaped up for a powerful jump kick aimed at his mentor's head. Iridian dropped into a horse stance facing Shinji, blocking the potent kick with his forearm. Twisting his forearm before the pilot had a chance to retract his leg, catching it neatly and tossing Shinji over his head to land hard on his back.
Shinji's leg was quicker than Iridian's arm. Despite the throbbing seeping into his skull, the young Variant brought his leg up in an ax kick, which resulted in Iridian sailing over Shinji to the far end of the platform. Iridian landed softly on one knee, using one hand to steady his body. Both men stopped for nearly three seconds before moving. Shinji rolled over and steadied himself on one knee, knowing that to try and stand would take too much time. Sure enough, Iridian's foot was already on its way towards his student's head.
Shinji over-pivoted, causing him to slip off the narrow dais and nearly plummet hundreds of feet below if it were not for his strong arm narrowly catching the edge, leaving him hanging. Shinji shut his eyes tightly. Summoning his strength, he pulled himself up back from the near-abyss and brought himself up to a kneeling position. He placed his good hand over his bad shoulder and remained in that position, panting. Sweat ran down the young man's face.
A few minutes passed before Misato walked up, having seen none of the quick skirmish. Shinji lingered a moment before rising and joining her.
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"There it is. Rei, begin charging the rifle. Shinji, you know what to do in case Rei misses."
The First Child affirmed with a simple 'yes'. The Third didn't reply at all. The communication relay inside Unit 01 had mysteriously been broken. Shinji could receive messages, but not send them. It was too late to reel the Evangelions in to repair it.
Inside the entry plug, Shinji shut his eyes softly and concentrated, beginning to chant the spell in Greek that would render his Evangelion invisible to the visible eye. If the Angel did see them, it would only see Rei, and would not notice Shinji until it was too late. As he did so, the tiniest of whispers swept through his ears. "Win," it said softly. His hands tightened on the joysticks as he felt the presence of his Other knocking at the back of his mind. It was reminding him not to fail.
'I will not fail,' Shinji thought.
Beside his Evangelion, Rei was mildly surprised when the Unit next to her suddenly disappeared. A moment later she felt its invisible hand on her shoulder. She reminded herself of his abilities and took a deep breath, waiting for the order to charge the rifle.
"Rei, continue charging," Misato's crisp order came through her speakers. Rei immediately acknowledged, feeling the massive charge from all over Japan flow through the gargantuan rifle. Almost sensing the buildup, the Angel's body turned towards the Evangelions. The joystick's crosshairs settled on the invader, and Rei calmly pulled the trigger, letting off a torrent of energy that propelled itself at the Angel at the same moment a similar wave of energy fired itself at the source of the assault.
The gravitational displacement caused by both beams caused them to curve around each other. However, the Angel's beam emerged from the disturbance back on track to hit Rei's Evangelion while the rifle's blast harmlessly detonated a mountain. Her companion sprang into action, holding up the hastily-constructed shield in front of him, defending them both. Shinji held onto the rapidly melting barrier with all his strength, eventually feeling the sheer heat cause his Eva's armor to melt, forming rivers of hot metal that splayed across it's body.
In Eva Unit 01's hands was nothing. The barrier had been completely disintegrated by the Angel's blast, as had most of Unit 01's armor. The energy blast had decimated both the exterior of the Eva as well as dispelling Shinji's invisibility spell. The sheer decimation was obvious to all who were watching. It looked horrific.
Horrific was an understatement. Shinji's eyes were shut tightly once more, his teeth gritting against each other. His chest, still not fully healed from the psychological pain inflicted from the last attack, was afresh with pain. The young Variant did not dare to use his last reserves of painkillers, so he willed the pain into a dark corner of his mind and tried to focus on his goal, the Angel. Being completely useless as a shield, he rushed down the mountainside, hoping to distract the Angel for long enough for the rifle to recharge. His body was on fire, but the young man did not care. He had a duty to do, and something as trivial as excruciating pain was not going to stop him. He had disabled his communications, but not his external speakers.
"Come and get me, you-"
Most of the words after that made Iridian, who was watching from a safe vantage point, proud. 'Given how much of a Hades I made his life, it is no wonder he learned how to swear properly.'
However, not everyone was as knowledgeable about Greek profanity. "What is he shouting, Ritsuko?"
Some had studied Greek in college, though. "You don't want to know."
Apparently, Angel Academy for Earth Invaders taught Greek as well, because the Angel turned towards Shinji and immediately fired at the Evangelion. Bending his legs slightly, the pilot launched his Eva into a dive to one side, falling heavily on his bad shoulder. He had sprung too late, as part of the energy blast impacted on his right leg, burning it to a near cinder and sending fresh waves of pain into his body.
'By Hades...I cannot move fast enough to dodge another blast. Not with this useless leg.' Shinji took a deep breath. 'Sorry Sachi, I did my best...'
The expected fatal blast never came. Instead, the Angel's core was annihilated by Rei's sniper shot. Shinji's diversion had bought her enough time for the rifle to recharge. The young man grinned before succumbing to the pain and exhaustion, his Eva deactivating.
Iridian yawned and looked at his watch. 'Not bad,' he thought to himself. 'Excellent efficiency, as usual. Guess I will have to be extra-hard on the kid. No good deed goes unpunished, after all. Builds character.'
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Shinji's mind emerged from its prison of unconsciousness with a start. Looking at his body, anyone would think that he was still in the bowels of slumber. But the proximity of an unfamiliar presence jerked his mind to alertness. A slender hand brushed up against his arm. His eyes burst open, reaching across to grab the lapel of the intruder's shirt, his other arm reaching back to form a fist, ready to send whoever was stealthy enough to get past his defenses.
Rei was mildly surprised. And she had just brought him his lunch.
Shinji blinked once. Then he blinked again. After about three seconds of utter silence, he realized that Rei was about six inches away from his face. Sheepishly, he let his hands drop. The only problem with this was that he had forgotten to let go of Rei's fuku. Rei felt a faint push on her back, shoving her down onto Shinji. The blue-haired girl promptly found her face in Shinji's crotch. The two of them sat there, motionless.
Shinji blinked once more. For good measure. Rei also blinked, but it was hard to tell. Being nearly smothered in Shinji's lap, it was a challenge to see much of her face at all. Just to add to the unease, Shinji's hand slipped and found its way to Rei's soft breast. It was the worst possible time for anyone to walk in on their incredibly uncomfortable and awkward position.
Which is, of course, exactly what happened. Ritsuko had been walking by when Shinji's vitals skyrocketed. A bemused smile found its way onto her pale face. "I hope I'm not disturbing anything."
The door closed, Ritsuko covering her mouth to stifle a giggle. The moment over, Rei slowly crawled out of the bed and, straightening her fuku, walked calmly out of the door. Shinji didn't notice the faint blush of red spreading across her cheeks. The split second the door closed, Shinji heard a burst of laughter coming from a bedside chair. He growled. "That was not funny. Do not think I didn't know you pushed on Rei's back."
Iridian continued to bellow for another few moments before calming down. "I will forgive the contraction because that was just so damn funny. If you needed some sexual release, you could have just asked a Second Variant. Fire elementals are always up for a little inter-Variant intercourse. Though Ms. Ayanami certainly has her positive points, I will not deny that. Still, you have an Oedipal complex or something?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Never mind. I just came here to tell you about your dismal performance this past night."
Shinji shot a glance at where he assumed Iridian was. "My question still stands: What are you talking about? I was fine out there."
The older man raised an eyebrow. The symbol was completely lost on Shinji, seeing as how Iridian was not visible to the naked eye. But the silence was a long enough message for Shinji. The teenager snorted. "Well, my Other did not emerge, so I did not do that badly."
"That should be a given. Besides, if it were not for Rei, you would be vaporized."
The young man sighed. 'Will Iridian ever give me a break?' he thought. Then he drew himself up. 'Of course not. We are the Elemental Corps. We do not need to be coddled.'
Shinji reached for the lunch tray. Iridian poked him. "You just woke up. Better leave that food to me. You are still on liquids, after all." Grinning, he snatched the tray.
"As if you really care about my welfare. You just want my food."
"Of course."
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Crono was wondering how his pet project was coming along. "Computer, display Operation Savior. Include Magistrate Iridian and Acolyte Ikari's most recent reports."
The soothing female voice replied, "Processing..."
A three-dimensional image emerged in the center of the office. It was a plethora of small holographic pictograms that resembled rectangular boxes, each of differing sizes. A line to form a relatively linear pattern connected many of the larger ones, with smaller boxes diverging from their larger progenitors.
It was a timeline of sorts: each box represented a major event, and the smaller ones connected to them were not necessary to the continuation of the timeline, but were helpful for it to reach it's successful conclusion. The timeline had stretched as far back as fifteen years prior, but it was only until the past few months when the timeline had become much more complex. Four of the eighteen boxes had been filled in green. The events they represented had been completed successfully. The rest were blue. They had not yet been encountered. Through sheer luck, none of the streamlined boxes had been colored red.
The computer, hundreds of times more powerful than the Magi computers that ran Tokyo-3, began updating the timeline. The largest box turned green.
"Primary objective: Destruction of Fifth Angel. Complete."
One of the off-branches also melted from blue to green.
"Secondary objective: substantial mechanical damage to Evangelion Unit 01. Complete."
The Fifth Variant smiled a bit. One of his advisers, a figure dressed entirely in red robes, grimaced. Her expression was not visible under the heavy hood she wore, but Crono could sense it in the slight strain in her voice. "I don't like how you're rooting for Shinji to be nearly killed."
The man dressed in black ignored her contractions. Only Fifth Variants like he cared about the sanctity of language and how much you can tell your opponent by the language you use. "Shinji can take care of himself. I simply want NERV and SEELE to drain their coffers as much as is possible. If worse comes to worse, I can always sabotage it."
"I would prefer if you did sabotage it," the woman replied. "That way there's no danger to Shinji."
"That is why you are not a Fifth Variant. If I kept sabotaging the Evangelions, Gendo Ikari may get suspicious. Not that I particularly care. But I do not want to waste my time on small fries like Gendo Ikari."
One of the other off-branches, meanwhile, had turned a light shade of crimson.
"Secondary objective: substantial mechanical damage to Evangelion Unit 00. Failed."
Crono shrugged. "I was not really expecting Shinji to fail at something as simple as bodyguard duty. He is a very noble soldier. Defending those weaker than he is something he excels at."
The woman smiled. "I did my best to raise him that way."
Crono threw a funny glance her way. "You did not raise him for very long, if I remember correctly. And I do."
"What I lacked in time I made up for in quality."
"Of course you did," Crono deadpanned, not believing her for a minute. Computer, how likely is it that Operation Savior will succeed in the big scheme of things?"
The computer was ready with an answer. "Current probability that all primary objectives will be completed has increased to four point seven-six- two percent."
The Shadow Elemental chuckled. "Computer, you may be utterly wonderful at mathematics, but you are no expert on the human mind. You still do beat out Gendo Ikari by a few kilos, I wager. Operation Savior will work because it has to work. The failure of Operation Savior will result in the eventual destruction of Humanity on no less than seven worlds. It is, simply, Common Sense."
"Acknowledged."
The woman in red robes asked Crono, "When is Pope Leo going to send the next Angel? I'm concerned for Shinji."
Crono shot her a glance.
She shrugged. "I don't see why I have to speak without contractions. I'm not a Fifth Variant."
The man smiled. "Builds character. Anyway, according to Iridian, the Pacific Fleet is going to ship the next Evangelion Unit out within the next two weeks, so Leo will probably send his next Angel to attack the fleet en route. It is the most logical course of action. The pilot will most likely be shipped along with her unit. You would like her. She's quite fiery."
"I thought you didn't base your conclusions on what the Imperium does based on the most logical course of action."
Crono hid his fear of his mortal enemy's intelligence well. "That is why you are not a Fifth Variant."
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Pope Leo XXIV was a brilliant man. For the Fundamentalist Imperium, that is. He could accomplish something that few others in his realm could do. A feat that other worlds easily took for granted. But for a realm with as little infrastructure and technology as his, this was certainly a most daunting task.
He could read.
This was not unusual for his station; every Pope before him could read to some extent, but Leo took it to higher levels. He was quite possibly the most intelligent Pope ever to sit on the Vatican's throne. That's what made Blackwood fear him so. The greatest strength the Compact ever had over the Imperium was the Compact's brilliant strategists. Leo was not going to let his reign be remembered for another stunning round of defeat after defeat at the hands of those pagan Elementals. He had created the first War College ever in the Imperium, and his Cardinal Lords had been developing battle strategies for the first time in known history.
Leo's powerful hands tightly grasped the handles of his throne as he faced yet another of his Cardinal Lords that was resisting his changes. "I will not tolerate ye one moment longer! You will attend the Blessed Order's newest War College, and if ye do not, I shall excommunicate ye myself!"
The soldier at his feet trembled visibly at the thought. "Please, great Lord, stay your hand! I shall do as ye ask."
"Good. Now begone from my sight. Bring Asoma to me."
"Immediately, Lord!" The Cardinal nearly dashed out of the throne room, stumbling backwards, not wanting to disrespect the Pope by showing his back. Once out, he nearly tripped into a short man with half his left ear missing. "The Lord's representative on Earth beckons you to him, Trillian Asoma."
Trillian took off the assault rifle strapped to his back and tossed it to a servant. "Hold on to that and try not to blow your head off," he ordered. The rifle was very out of place for such a medieval setting. All the rancor in his face disappeared when he entered the throne room, however. He walked slowly forward and bowed deeply, dropping to one knee. "May the great Lord protect you, Pope Leo, twenty-fourth in your noble line."
"Quit the pleasantries. We are a nation at war, Trillian. How long until we can bring forth the next Angel forth from the heavens?"
Trillian kept his head bowed, appearing the ever-faithful servant. "Within the next week, as per your plans, great Lord."
The Pope relaxed a bit. "Excellent. Make sure to humbly ask the Angel to strike when the heathens are transporting one of their demonic Evangelions. Do it humbly, this time! Do not point those repulsive weapons you have at it! The Angel is a messenger from on Lord on high!"
"Yes, your Lordship."
"One more thing, Trillian. Do not make the mistake that I am as stupid as my predecessors. I know what ye are capable of."
The short man bit his lip. Could this Pope really have breached his security? He worried momentarily, which was long enough for the armored man on the throne to confirm his suspicions. "I would never do anything that isn't the best for the Imperium, Pope Leo. If you'll allow me, I will depart to my supercomputer to confirm when the Pacific Fleet is leaving."
Leo glared at Trillian, but decided that the midget was worth keeping around. His computer and advanced weaponry had aided the Imperium on more than one occasion. "Very well. Make sure ye kill the riders of those damnable Evangelions. Ikari and Ayanami, correct?"
"Yes, Lord. And there will be one more soon. She shall die quickly. Her name is..." Trillian pulled out a small piece of paper. "Asuka Sorhyu, my Lord."
Leo stood up. His polished iron armor shined in the Rome sun. His intelligent brown eyes flashed with righteous purpose. "Dispatch them immediately."
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Genetic Lessons: Battle
By Polar Kodiak
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The battered Evangelion was immediately brought back into the cocoon of the Eva hangar. A massive crater was present in what used to be the Unit's chest, cybernetic organs protruding from the gaping hole. Inside the entry plug, the pilot cursed and shut his eyes tightly, fighting the immense pain. The neural feedback from the surprise attack was excruciating, but Shinji had felt worse before. His tolerance for pain was astronomical. It had to be; if enemy forces caught Shinji, or any Fifth Variant, torture would be the obvious result. Shinji quickly reached underneath the collar of the plug suit with his uninjured arm and tapped twice on his upper chest. Moments later, the painkillers that had been surgically implanted into his chest cavity began to spread throughout his body released into his bloodstream, dulling the extreme pain he had felt.
The LCL drained quickly, and Shinji expelled the remaining liquid from his lungs, not without a little blood, the iron taste filling his mouth as it filled the space between his teeth. Taking several pained breaths, the young Variant fought off the last of the pain before stepping out onto the platform. A recovery team was waiting for him, bringing a gurney in case he was unconscious. He waved it off. "I am not so weak as to need assistance."
Shinji took one final deep breath before stumbling off to the locker room. He immediately took a beeline to the shower and turned on the cold water after doffing his plug suit, making sure not to agitate the dislocation of his shoulder. 'A perfect example of how pathetic I am. I am so wretched that I cannot even control my emotions.' He needed to get his mind from latching onto his failure. He did not need to focus on it at the moment.
"You are a miserable failure."
Iridian would remind him of it plenty. The Magistrate was not visible, as usual, but his presence was as obvious as if he had been.
"I was-" Shinji began.
"You were distracted," Iridian shot back. Shinji felt a powerful punch to the stomach, causing him to drop to one knee as the blow was powerful enough to make him double over, even with the painkillers. He felt his former mentor grasp his wrist and twist his injured arm behind his back, dislocating the shoulder yet again and sending fresh waves of pain into Shinji's brain, overruling the painkillers. His breathing once more became shallow as he felt the water turn scalding hot. Shinji did not dare get out of the hot stream of water. He knew when to accept punishment for failure.
"You had ample time to dodge," Iridian continued. "I counted. You had well over half a second. What happened?"
Shinji knew better than reply.
"Well?" Iridian pressed.
"You are right. I was distracted." Shinji stated.
Iridian kicked Shinji hard in the back, driving him onto his stomach. "By Hades were you distracted! That was even more disgraceful than your first battle with the Angels. At least you had the good sense to remain conscious! I hope your learning curve is steeper than your worthless attempts to control your emotions." He repeated the last word with disgust. "I failed you in the latter on your last examination, if you remember."
Oh yes. Shinji remembered. It was because of that failing grade that Shinji entered the Corps as an Initiate Level One instead of Level Two.
"Your Eva is being repaired. Do not fuck up next time, by Hades." With one swift kick to the ribs, Iridian departed. Shinji slowly got to his feet, propping himself up with his strong arm. Taking a towel, he slowly began drying his body off, doffing his plug suit and hanging it in his locker. On the top shelf was a silver container. Inside was a massive syringe with a dense, green liquid inside. Without hesitation, Shinji stabbed the enormous needle into his heart, depressing the stopper and releasing the painkiller replenishment into his body. He read the small note attached to the canister: 'Do not waste this batch. It will be the last you get for a while. Your monthly salary has been deducted appropriately to cover the cost. Signed, Veriias Elerbi, Variant Accounting Office'.
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"What do you mean, Shinji?" Misato asked, confused.
"Rei should not be the bodyguard. I should be," he replied, pointing to Rei with his re-bandaged arm. It was not a hard task to convince Ritsuko that he had tripped in the slippery shower stall and re-aggravated his injury. "Assume that the sniper does not destroy the Angel. The Angel is obviously going to shoot back. Whoever is holding the shield- the bodyguard- is going to have to deal with the neural feedback."
He turned to the doctor. "You have done tests on both of us. I have a higher pain tolerance."
'Almost too high,' Ristuko thought. She shook her head. "You have a higher synch ratio, Shinji. You have a better chance of hitting the target."
"I have felt the Angel's attack. I know what to expect, should the sniper miss," Shinji retorted.
"Enough," Gendo bellowed without raising his voice. "Rei will be the sniper."
There was no arguing with the Supreme Commander of NERV.
'Maybe,' Gendo thought, 'I can discover just where it is Pilot Ikari gets his interesting powers. If Rei misses, Shinji will have to take down the Angel through his usual unconventional means.'
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"May I join you?"
Rei said nothing, but did not complain when Shinji sat beside her. On the young man's left was his fully repaired Unit 01; on Rei's right was her own Evangelion, ready for the operation. The two mecha seemed to mirror the personalities of their pilots; the purple Unit 01 was poised for action, its green eyes narrow slits like a heartless warrior. The orange Unit 00 was more reserved, less curved, more polygonal.
The two teens sat on the platforms silently, looking at the mountain range before them. Softly, Rei spoke. "Why?"
"Why what?" Shinji responded, turning to her.
Rei did not face him. "Why did you insist on taking the shield?"
Shinji blinked, confused. "What do you mean?"
"You held back. During the meeting."
Shinji remained silent, and Rei did not press him further. Instead, the two of them sat quietly and listened to the night.
The young man's thoughts drifted, eventually settling on wondering what he was doing here on the planet of his birth, as opposed to a real, significant mission, or even Lunar Base back on the Global Compact's moon.
'If it were not for Crono, I would not be here,' Shinji thought angrily. Shinji's distaste for his ultimate superior was nearly omnipresent. He had never liked the Fifth Variant Elemental. Ever since Sachiko's death, Shinji had felt that the Shadow Elemental was somehow responsible. If the Fifth Variant Elemental had done something, anything, Sachiko would be alive today, Shinji reasoned. Crono had done nothing to protect his guardian from Imperial ambushes.
'Crono only saw Sachi as a Second Variant. To him, anyone not a Fifth Variant is expendable. By Hades, if it is the last thing I do, he will pay for his role in Sachi-chan's death.'
A sneer worked its way onto Shinji's lips. 'He may be my superior officer, and if it were not for his importance as the Compact's greatest spymaster I would-'
"Let go of your anger towards Crono, Shinji."
Shinji's head twisted to the right in a millisecond. Beside him was no longer Rei, but Iridian, fully visible. There was no danger of being spotted; the operation would not begin for hours yet. Much of NERV's crew were catching a quick nap before the operation. But where had Rei gone?
The older man smirked and gestured with a thumb over his shoulder. "Rei left about half an hour ago. A moron could read your thoughts by facial expressions alone, Shinji. You always have that same sneer when you are thinking of the boss."
The young man said nothing. Iridian chuckled deeply, reaching out and gripping Shinji's good shoulder with a reassuring squeeze. "Shinji, you have to get over Sachiko. Crono told me that he had warned Sachiko about Imperial agents in the area."
Shinji's chin sank into his chest. "But she was so worried about getting me to safety that she risked getting killed by Imperials, even knowing the risks."
Iridian nodded. "Got that one right from the boss's lips myself. What a reckless, impulsive act. She was a Second Variant to the end, was she not?"
A small smile slowly formed on Shinji's face. "Yes, she certainly was special like that."
The young Variant realized something, noticing Iridian's beaming smile. Iridian was actually being cordial to him. In the years that Shinji had known the Magistrate, Iridian had never been so friendly with him. Easily reading his face once more, Iridian laughed heartily. "Do not be on your guard, Shinji. This is no test."
That meant it certainly was a test. Shinji immediately sprang up into a defensive stance, his body pivoting to protect his weak side from the roundhouse kick he already knew he was on its way. Sure enough, his strong arm was positioned well enough to deflect most of the kick's energy, bleeding it away before it got the chance to do any damage.
"Good!" Iridian said, lining up a weak punch to bait Shinji's defenses. "Never let your guard down!"
Back and forth the two fought on the narrow platform, the older man easily able to keep Shinji on the defensive by targeting the younger man's weaker side. Shinji leaped up for a powerful jump kick aimed at his mentor's head. Iridian dropped into a horse stance facing Shinji, blocking the potent kick with his forearm. Twisting his forearm before the pilot had a chance to retract his leg, catching it neatly and tossing Shinji over his head to land hard on his back.
Shinji's leg was quicker than Iridian's arm. Despite the throbbing seeping into his skull, the young Variant brought his leg up in an ax kick, which resulted in Iridian sailing over Shinji to the far end of the platform. Iridian landed softly on one knee, using one hand to steady his body. Both men stopped for nearly three seconds before moving. Shinji rolled over and steadied himself on one knee, knowing that to try and stand would take too much time. Sure enough, Iridian's foot was already on its way towards his student's head.
Shinji over-pivoted, causing him to slip off the narrow dais and nearly plummet hundreds of feet below if it were not for his strong arm narrowly catching the edge, leaving him hanging. Shinji shut his eyes tightly. Summoning his strength, he pulled himself up back from the near-abyss and brought himself up to a kneeling position. He placed his good hand over his bad shoulder and remained in that position, panting. Sweat ran down the young man's face.
A few minutes passed before Misato walked up, having seen none of the quick skirmish. Shinji lingered a moment before rising and joining her.
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"There it is. Rei, begin charging the rifle. Shinji, you know what to do in case Rei misses."
The First Child affirmed with a simple 'yes'. The Third didn't reply at all. The communication relay inside Unit 01 had mysteriously been broken. Shinji could receive messages, but not send them. It was too late to reel the Evangelions in to repair it.
Inside the entry plug, Shinji shut his eyes softly and concentrated, beginning to chant the spell in Greek that would render his Evangelion invisible to the visible eye. If the Angel did see them, it would only see Rei, and would not notice Shinji until it was too late. As he did so, the tiniest of whispers swept through his ears. "Win," it said softly. His hands tightened on the joysticks as he felt the presence of his Other knocking at the back of his mind. It was reminding him not to fail.
'I will not fail,' Shinji thought.
Beside his Evangelion, Rei was mildly surprised when the Unit next to her suddenly disappeared. A moment later she felt its invisible hand on her shoulder. She reminded herself of his abilities and took a deep breath, waiting for the order to charge the rifle.
"Rei, continue charging," Misato's crisp order came through her speakers. Rei immediately acknowledged, feeling the massive charge from all over Japan flow through the gargantuan rifle. Almost sensing the buildup, the Angel's body turned towards the Evangelions. The joystick's crosshairs settled on the invader, and Rei calmly pulled the trigger, letting off a torrent of energy that propelled itself at the Angel at the same moment a similar wave of energy fired itself at the source of the assault.
The gravitational displacement caused by both beams caused them to curve around each other. However, the Angel's beam emerged from the disturbance back on track to hit Rei's Evangelion while the rifle's blast harmlessly detonated a mountain. Her companion sprang into action, holding up the hastily-constructed shield in front of him, defending them both. Shinji held onto the rapidly melting barrier with all his strength, eventually feeling the sheer heat cause his Eva's armor to melt, forming rivers of hot metal that splayed across it's body.
In Eva Unit 01's hands was nothing. The barrier had been completely disintegrated by the Angel's blast, as had most of Unit 01's armor. The energy blast had decimated both the exterior of the Eva as well as dispelling Shinji's invisibility spell. The sheer decimation was obvious to all who were watching. It looked horrific.
Horrific was an understatement. Shinji's eyes were shut tightly once more, his teeth gritting against each other. His chest, still not fully healed from the psychological pain inflicted from the last attack, was afresh with pain. The young Variant did not dare to use his last reserves of painkillers, so he willed the pain into a dark corner of his mind and tried to focus on his goal, the Angel. Being completely useless as a shield, he rushed down the mountainside, hoping to distract the Angel for long enough for the rifle to recharge. His body was on fire, but the young man did not care. He had a duty to do, and something as trivial as excruciating pain was not going to stop him. He had disabled his communications, but not his external speakers.
"Come and get me, you-"
Most of the words after that made Iridian, who was watching from a safe vantage point, proud. 'Given how much of a Hades I made his life, it is no wonder he learned how to swear properly.'
However, not everyone was as knowledgeable about Greek profanity. "What is he shouting, Ritsuko?"
Some had studied Greek in college, though. "You don't want to know."
Apparently, Angel Academy for Earth Invaders taught Greek as well, because the Angel turned towards Shinji and immediately fired at the Evangelion. Bending his legs slightly, the pilot launched his Eva into a dive to one side, falling heavily on his bad shoulder. He had sprung too late, as part of the energy blast impacted on his right leg, burning it to a near cinder and sending fresh waves of pain into his body.
'By Hades...I cannot move fast enough to dodge another blast. Not with this useless leg.' Shinji took a deep breath. 'Sorry Sachi, I did my best...'
The expected fatal blast never came. Instead, the Angel's core was annihilated by Rei's sniper shot. Shinji's diversion had bought her enough time for the rifle to recharge. The young man grinned before succumbing to the pain and exhaustion, his Eva deactivating.
Iridian yawned and looked at his watch. 'Not bad,' he thought to himself. 'Excellent efficiency, as usual. Guess I will have to be extra-hard on the kid. No good deed goes unpunished, after all. Builds character.'
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Shinji's mind emerged from its prison of unconsciousness with a start. Looking at his body, anyone would think that he was still in the bowels of slumber. But the proximity of an unfamiliar presence jerked his mind to alertness. A slender hand brushed up against his arm. His eyes burst open, reaching across to grab the lapel of the intruder's shirt, his other arm reaching back to form a fist, ready to send whoever was stealthy enough to get past his defenses.
Rei was mildly surprised. And she had just brought him his lunch.
Shinji blinked once. Then he blinked again. After about three seconds of utter silence, he realized that Rei was about six inches away from his face. Sheepishly, he let his hands drop. The only problem with this was that he had forgotten to let go of Rei's fuku. Rei felt a faint push on her back, shoving her down onto Shinji. The blue-haired girl promptly found her face in Shinji's crotch. The two of them sat there, motionless.
Shinji blinked once more. For good measure. Rei also blinked, but it was hard to tell. Being nearly smothered in Shinji's lap, it was a challenge to see much of her face at all. Just to add to the unease, Shinji's hand slipped and found its way to Rei's soft breast. It was the worst possible time for anyone to walk in on their incredibly uncomfortable and awkward position.
Which is, of course, exactly what happened. Ritsuko had been walking by when Shinji's vitals skyrocketed. A bemused smile found its way onto her pale face. "I hope I'm not disturbing anything."
The door closed, Ritsuko covering her mouth to stifle a giggle. The moment over, Rei slowly crawled out of the bed and, straightening her fuku, walked calmly out of the door. Shinji didn't notice the faint blush of red spreading across her cheeks. The split second the door closed, Shinji heard a burst of laughter coming from a bedside chair. He growled. "That was not funny. Do not think I didn't know you pushed on Rei's back."
Iridian continued to bellow for another few moments before calming down. "I will forgive the contraction because that was just so damn funny. If you needed some sexual release, you could have just asked a Second Variant. Fire elementals are always up for a little inter-Variant intercourse. Though Ms. Ayanami certainly has her positive points, I will not deny that. Still, you have an Oedipal complex or something?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Never mind. I just came here to tell you about your dismal performance this past night."
Shinji shot a glance at where he assumed Iridian was. "My question still stands: What are you talking about? I was fine out there."
The older man raised an eyebrow. The symbol was completely lost on Shinji, seeing as how Iridian was not visible to the naked eye. But the silence was a long enough message for Shinji. The teenager snorted. "Well, my Other did not emerge, so I did not do that badly."
"That should be a given. Besides, if it were not for Rei, you would be vaporized."
The young man sighed. 'Will Iridian ever give me a break?' he thought. Then he drew himself up. 'Of course not. We are the Elemental Corps. We do not need to be coddled.'
Shinji reached for the lunch tray. Iridian poked him. "You just woke up. Better leave that food to me. You are still on liquids, after all." Grinning, he snatched the tray.
"As if you really care about my welfare. You just want my food."
"Of course."
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Crono was wondering how his pet project was coming along. "Computer, display Operation Savior. Include Magistrate Iridian and Acolyte Ikari's most recent reports."
The soothing female voice replied, "Processing..."
A three-dimensional image emerged in the center of the office. It was a plethora of small holographic pictograms that resembled rectangular boxes, each of differing sizes. A line to form a relatively linear pattern connected many of the larger ones, with smaller boxes diverging from their larger progenitors.
It was a timeline of sorts: each box represented a major event, and the smaller ones connected to them were not necessary to the continuation of the timeline, but were helpful for it to reach it's successful conclusion. The timeline had stretched as far back as fifteen years prior, but it was only until the past few months when the timeline had become much more complex. Four of the eighteen boxes had been filled in green. The events they represented had been completed successfully. The rest were blue. They had not yet been encountered. Through sheer luck, none of the streamlined boxes had been colored red.
The computer, hundreds of times more powerful than the Magi computers that ran Tokyo-3, began updating the timeline. The largest box turned green.
"Primary objective: Destruction of Fifth Angel. Complete."
One of the off-branches also melted from blue to green.
"Secondary objective: substantial mechanical damage to Evangelion Unit 01. Complete."
The Fifth Variant smiled a bit. One of his advisers, a figure dressed entirely in red robes, grimaced. Her expression was not visible under the heavy hood she wore, but Crono could sense it in the slight strain in her voice. "I don't like how you're rooting for Shinji to be nearly killed."
The man dressed in black ignored her contractions. Only Fifth Variants like he cared about the sanctity of language and how much you can tell your opponent by the language you use. "Shinji can take care of himself. I simply want NERV and SEELE to drain their coffers as much as is possible. If worse comes to worse, I can always sabotage it."
"I would prefer if you did sabotage it," the woman replied. "That way there's no danger to Shinji."
"That is why you are not a Fifth Variant. If I kept sabotaging the Evangelions, Gendo Ikari may get suspicious. Not that I particularly care. But I do not want to waste my time on small fries like Gendo Ikari."
One of the other off-branches, meanwhile, had turned a light shade of crimson.
"Secondary objective: substantial mechanical damage to Evangelion Unit 00. Failed."
Crono shrugged. "I was not really expecting Shinji to fail at something as simple as bodyguard duty. He is a very noble soldier. Defending those weaker than he is something he excels at."
The woman smiled. "I did my best to raise him that way."
Crono threw a funny glance her way. "You did not raise him for very long, if I remember correctly. And I do."
"What I lacked in time I made up for in quality."
"Of course you did," Crono deadpanned, not believing her for a minute. Computer, how likely is it that Operation Savior will succeed in the big scheme of things?"
The computer was ready with an answer. "Current probability that all primary objectives will be completed has increased to four point seven-six- two percent."
The Shadow Elemental chuckled. "Computer, you may be utterly wonderful at mathematics, but you are no expert on the human mind. You still do beat out Gendo Ikari by a few kilos, I wager. Operation Savior will work because it has to work. The failure of Operation Savior will result in the eventual destruction of Humanity on no less than seven worlds. It is, simply, Common Sense."
"Acknowledged."
The woman in red robes asked Crono, "When is Pope Leo going to send the next Angel? I'm concerned for Shinji."
Crono shot her a glance.
She shrugged. "I don't see why I have to speak without contractions. I'm not a Fifth Variant."
The man smiled. "Builds character. Anyway, according to Iridian, the Pacific Fleet is going to ship the next Evangelion Unit out within the next two weeks, so Leo will probably send his next Angel to attack the fleet en route. It is the most logical course of action. The pilot will most likely be shipped along with her unit. You would like her. She's quite fiery."
"I thought you didn't base your conclusions on what the Imperium does based on the most logical course of action."
Crono hid his fear of his mortal enemy's intelligence well. "That is why you are not a Fifth Variant."
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Pope Leo XXIV was a brilliant man. For the Fundamentalist Imperium, that is. He could accomplish something that few others in his realm could do. A feat that other worlds easily took for granted. But for a realm with as little infrastructure and technology as his, this was certainly a most daunting task.
He could read.
This was not unusual for his station; every Pope before him could read to some extent, but Leo took it to higher levels. He was quite possibly the most intelligent Pope ever to sit on the Vatican's throne. That's what made Blackwood fear him so. The greatest strength the Compact ever had over the Imperium was the Compact's brilliant strategists. Leo was not going to let his reign be remembered for another stunning round of defeat after defeat at the hands of those pagan Elementals. He had created the first War College ever in the Imperium, and his Cardinal Lords had been developing battle strategies for the first time in known history.
Leo's powerful hands tightly grasped the handles of his throne as he faced yet another of his Cardinal Lords that was resisting his changes. "I will not tolerate ye one moment longer! You will attend the Blessed Order's newest War College, and if ye do not, I shall excommunicate ye myself!"
The soldier at his feet trembled visibly at the thought. "Please, great Lord, stay your hand! I shall do as ye ask."
"Good. Now begone from my sight. Bring Asoma to me."
"Immediately, Lord!" The Cardinal nearly dashed out of the throne room, stumbling backwards, not wanting to disrespect the Pope by showing his back. Once out, he nearly tripped into a short man with half his left ear missing. "The Lord's representative on Earth beckons you to him, Trillian Asoma."
Trillian took off the assault rifle strapped to his back and tossed it to a servant. "Hold on to that and try not to blow your head off," he ordered. The rifle was very out of place for such a medieval setting. All the rancor in his face disappeared when he entered the throne room, however. He walked slowly forward and bowed deeply, dropping to one knee. "May the great Lord protect you, Pope Leo, twenty-fourth in your noble line."
"Quit the pleasantries. We are a nation at war, Trillian. How long until we can bring forth the next Angel forth from the heavens?"
Trillian kept his head bowed, appearing the ever-faithful servant. "Within the next week, as per your plans, great Lord."
The Pope relaxed a bit. "Excellent. Make sure to humbly ask the Angel to strike when the heathens are transporting one of their demonic Evangelions. Do it humbly, this time! Do not point those repulsive weapons you have at it! The Angel is a messenger from on Lord on high!"
"Yes, your Lordship."
"One more thing, Trillian. Do not make the mistake that I am as stupid as my predecessors. I know what ye are capable of."
The short man bit his lip. Could this Pope really have breached his security? He worried momentarily, which was long enough for the armored man on the throne to confirm his suspicions. "I would never do anything that isn't the best for the Imperium, Pope Leo. If you'll allow me, I will depart to my supercomputer to confirm when the Pacific Fleet is leaving."
Leo glared at Trillian, but decided that the midget was worth keeping around. His computer and advanced weaponry had aided the Imperium on more than one occasion. "Very well. Make sure ye kill the riders of those damnable Evangelions. Ikari and Ayanami, correct?"
"Yes, Lord. And there will be one more soon. She shall die quickly. Her name is..." Trillian pulled out a small piece of paper. "Asuka Sorhyu, my Lord."
Leo stood up. His polished iron armor shined in the Rome sun. His intelligent brown eyes flashed with righteous purpose. "Dispatch them immediately."