Reign of the Tabri
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."- "God"
Chapter 15: ReMoval
They broke their huddle.
Tabris/Michel was the only one to speak to the great crowd of Tabri, "My sons and daughter" he said in the voice Shinji would've recognized as Kowaru.
The Conclave instinctively quieted to listen to their father. "You have done well my children," his voice echoed around the cavern. Around him the other Messengers spread out in a circle. Bardiel and Armisael waited in the middle of the circle talking.
"You have brought us back from the edges of the abyss. I am very glad to see you all once more," he continued. Bardiel and Armisael turned and took off at a modest trot for the entrance to where Lilith was kept. They cleared Heaven's Gate and disappeared. Arael massaged its right hand uncomfortably.
"It makes me very sad that we must part so soon. I am sorry my child but there is someplace I must go!" Tabris said in an utterly sincere voice. Arael removed his glove and his eyes grew to humongous sizes. High above Logani wrestled with the AT-fields holding him.
"I-" Tabris cut off his apology when they attacked.
It had been nearly unanimous. Only Tabris had voted against it, wanting to save his children. Still, he had gone along with it when the others demanded it.
When they'd learned that the Tabri had managed to bring an Evangelion down they'd panicked. Fear got the better of them even though Ireul was not there.
It had other reasons though. "There is only room for one family around here," Bardiel had said.
The plan had been for Bardiel and Armisael to go free Lilith while the others launched a coordinated assault. Tabris had been the distraction. When he'd realized the inevitability of the attack he'd volunteered. "They'll listen to me like no one else," he'd said in his quiet voice.
"Then we do it," Sachiel had given his blessing.
Eleven AT-fields tore through Tabri like meat being put through a grinder. Nearly half were dead before the carnage hit the floor. Most of them refused to even believe it. Their minds shut out the very idea of being attacked by Messengers.
Of those few that did consider it only a few moved fast enough. They had to dive into tunnels to escape the giant anti-AT field wave being created by eleven Messengers. In seconds it washed over the whole cave.
Only a few dozen Tabri escaped even the initial attack. They were the smartest, the fastest, and the strongest. They didn't take time to even consider fighting back. They knew they were outnumbered and that they had to run. Creating caves as they went they rushed headlong out of NERV HQ and Tokyo-3.
A few were unlucky enough to enter Lilith's chambers. The now freed giant of white crushed them in seconds. With Bardiel and Armisael the parasites on its shoulders they never stood a chance.
Zacherial ran like hell for a little bit. Then he ran like hell for some more. Finally he ran like hell for a long time.
Eventually he slowed down and attempted to rally some of the scattered Tabri to him. "To me!" he shouted, spinning and running, "We have to stick together! Keep running but stick together!"
A few managed to get to him, Andinesial among them. They kept running, but now in a pack.
Mendial managed to do much the same as Zacherial but he used more of a military presence to persuade people to join him. "Get over here you limp bastards!" he demanded. Those near him came quickly.
Semian was among them. They all continued to run in a pack.
Vernide didn't make a pack. She took over one. She ran only for herself until she reached the outside. There she managed to find others, already gathered up, and take them over.
Her team that had raided NERV 8 was the core of those she found. They ran as her bitch.
Sahaqiel, being right next to Arael, was the first to notice he hadn't helped at all. "What the hell were you doing!" she demanded.
Arael, still in wonder of it himself, turned around and raised his right hand. The assembled Messengers gasped.
"Father's soul," Tabris said.
"Yes," said Sachiel with a slow nod, "Ikari kept it close to him the whole time."
Lilith plowed through the wall. Bardiel and Armisael sat on each shoulder. When they saw what was in Arael's hand they smiled. "It really is a family reunion," said Bardiel as he jumped down from Lilith. Armisael followed him quickly enough. Lilith took a seat on the ground with a smash.
"Well," demanded Tabris, "we've killed off most of my children. What's next? My arm maybe? A leg?"
Sachiel shook his head, absolutely serious. "We resurrect father," he said. Everyone turned to look at Arael. He held up his hand and they gathered around it. "We'll need a lot of power for this though," Sachiel said.
"Yeah," agreed Sandalphon. "There's only one place we'll get that kind of power. The South Pole," she said calmly.
Sachiel nodded, "The weakest point of Earth's defenses. More power will get through there then anywhere else. We need transportation."
They all froze abruptly. Then Sachiel stood up from his crouched position looking at Adam. "Those will work," he said slowly. Then he nodded to reinforce his words, "They'll work."
"It must be the Tabri souls," said Tabri unsteadily, "A few of them must have willed their soulsto go to one of the Evangelions when they died."
"Fine," said Sachiel, "We take them then. There are new bodies for all of us."
"There aren't enough," said Shamshel, "Only eleven are being operated."
"You forget," sneered Bardiel, "Lilith doesn't need a body, neither does Armisael or me."
"That's right," Armisael awakened to his meaning, "I can reform Unit 00 and Bardiel can resurrect Unit 03."
"That makes fourteen," said Ramiel, "Who doesn't get one?"
"Fifteen," said Sachiel. The others all turned to look at him. "I'll take Unit 1," he said. His smile lit up the room.
Tabris seemed doubtful, "I tried to take over Unit 1," he said, "When I attacked NERV. Its soul is extremely strong. You won't be able to budge it."
Sachiel threw back his head, "Then I'll destroy it and take another. Now let's go before they get down here and we lose surprise."
All the angels darted off, besides Tabris and Sachiel. Lilith just sat there, seven eyes looking around dumbly.
"You don't have to come with us if you don't want to," Sachiel said.
"Thank you," said Tabris, "But I'll regret it if I don't. I won't be taking one of those bodies though. They're much too big."
"Of course," Sachiel said soothingly to his youngest brother, "You'll want to go take your origonal. Come when you're ready." He took off after the others.
Tabris turned to look at Lilith for a moment. Finally he snorted softly, "You can come down now," he said softly, "Logani."
Logani ghosted down on his AT-field. He stood behind his father, about twenty feet back. "How could you do it," he demanded, "How could you just kill all of your children!"
Tabris turned to look at Logani. He kept his head low, not looking at Logani as a child would not look at his mother after he had done poorly. "Would you have tried to cross your brothers?" he said quietly, his vocalization of choice.
"I already have," Logani spat, "And I would do it again if I thought it was necessary."
Tabris looked up now. He very nearly drew back at the accusation in Logani's eyes. "Then you are a better brother then I," he surrendered.
Logani snorted and turned. "Goodbye," he said, "One who I once called father." He started walking away.
Tabris raised his hand slowly; his face aimed at the ground once more. "I am sorry. But I cannot let you do that," he said. His AT-field shot out and hit Logani squarely in the back.
Logani flew through the air, eventually coming to rest several feet through the cavern wall. Tabris pushed off the ground with his feet slowly. He drifted upwards towards the exit to the cavern. Beneath him Lilith stood and prepared to follow. "Goodbye," Tabris' whisper was barely audible even to him, "My son."
Lilith followed Tabris out the exit without communicating anything.
Sachiel caught up to the others in time easily. Together they reached the Eva bays.
Evangelions 05-15 had been brought in from across the globe. They waited in their bays to be activated. Normally they would've needed pilots but as with so many other things concerning the Evangelions they could operate randomly. They did now.
They activated at the sheer will of the ten Tabri who had put their souls into them. These Tabri were pissed. They'd been killed without even realizing who'd been doing it to them.
Separated from the others, Evas 01, 02, and 04 sat. At least for the moment they were silent.
Bardiel and Armisael split off from the main group and traveled to where Evas 00 and 03 were stored. Gendo Ikari had not been a wasteful man; he'd planned to eventually restore both Evas.
Unfortunately for him he never got around to it.
Bardiel took up a position above Eva 03's bay and began drawing what little pieces remained of the Eva he'd destroyed together. Soon he had a pile of Eva the size of a fist.
Bardiel smiled and threw his arms apart. The leftovers of Evangelion Unit 03 fused and began growing rapidly. It wasn't there yet, but soon it would be a full Eva again.
Two chambers away from him Armisael repeated the process. Unit 00 would walk again.
The other Angels had a harder time acquiring their newest bodies. Evas 05-15 broke their restraints and attacked the Angels when they entered the bays.
Unit 08 reached out and snagged Sachiel out of thin air. It let back a feral grin before its arm began bubbling uncontrollably. It took a step back and dropped the limp body it was holding. It bounced only a little.
In every chamber it happened. The Eva would land a blow, only to lose control as the Messenger shed its skin to take the Eva over. Soon they had command of 10 Evangelions.
Tabris and Lilith reached Central Dogma first. Tabris had just planned to meet his brothers in the open air above Tokyo-3. Sadly, it was not to be.
Unit 01 awoke with a start when Sachiel entered its chamber. Its eyes locked onto it instinctively. It recognized it from its first battle. It had the same stubby legs, the giant red dome, and the three-fingered hands. Sachiel was back, and ready to fight.
Unit 01 broke its restraints and jumped forward to meet its foe. They collided, with Unit 01 immediately gaining the upper hand over its adversary. It grabbed a hold of Sachiel's arms, and for the second time, broke them.
But Sachiel had help on its side. Zeruel fired its blast straight into Unit 01 before colliding into it. Unit 01 rocked back and slammed into the back wall. It took stock of its new enemy. It recognized this one as well. It had the same short legs as Sachiel, but with arms that were thin instead of thick. Zeruel stood over his brother while he stood and regenerated. Then they both prepared their beam attacks.
Unit 01 was not going to let that happen. It dove out of their way and onto its launch catapult. It zipped upwards just seconds before the area it had been standing in was destroyed. Fire roared upwards, threatening to overtake Unit 01 in its flight upwards.
The smoke reached Central Dogma first. It belched up into the confined space of the geo-dome, reaching the surface. Unit 01 was not far behind it.
The catapult didn't slow down in time. This threw Unit 01 into the air. It flipped and landed on all fours. It skidded tens of meters before stopping. It stood and looked over the area. It had hunted here before. Another pair of enemies lurked here already as well.
It didn't recognize the small one but some part of it remembered the big one. Perhaps it had faced this one before…
Unit 01 beat its chest in preparation for the next battle. But, when it had just begun to step forward to charge, the smoke began to clear. Behind it were many more enemies. The first again. Looping overhead was the second enemy it had defeated. The third glinted dangerously, while the fifth stood fused as it had begun. On down the line they went. Slowly it dawned on Unit 01's conscious that they were all there.
Sure, the fourth and the eight were different, they remained Evangelions in nearly all aspects, but it didn't really matter to Unit 01. Sixteen enemies that had been destroyedwere here now. They all wanted to fight.
Unit 01 would give it to them.
Tabris shook his head. He turned to look at his other brothers. He waved good-bye and began to float higher. Sachiel returned his nod and turned back to Unit 01.
'Do I really need my original body?' thought Tabris, 'I haven't used it in ages. It'll be hideous after so long.' Nevertheless he floated higher and higher. He left Tokyo-3 behind him and began flying forward instead of up. His destination…
His destination was the Tabri enclave in North America.
Got the bugs worked out, I think. Sadly I had to kill off most of the Tabri. My least favorite part of this chapter is them running and packing up. Still, it was necessary. Sadly, AnimeFan64 could not proofread this one either. Look for sixteen soon.
Got another review and that makes me happy. Updates come faster that way people. As always r&R. Just so you know, the second r is for review.