Reign of the Tabri
Chapter 21: Messenger or Omnium Finis Imminet
If you thought any of the other chapters were big...
Shinji shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Even in the fast delivery ships the trip was taking a long time. Already he'd triple checked all of his weapons and systems. Unit 01 was running like it had been reborn. Oh wait, it had been.
The controls were waiting for his hands to grasp them. Unit 01 was waiting for his command. Should he give it he'd be freed from this cage of an airship. He barely even considered it.
His rifle and pistol were loaded, ready to fire. His progressive knife was stored in his shoulder pylon, sharpened to maximum. Shinji flexed his shoulders, and Unit 01s, to loosen up.
The mind of Shinji Ikari shifted towards his annoyance with Asuka. 'How the hell can she think war is necessary?' he thought to himself. With a struggle he managed to remove his annoyance and once more face the coming struggle.
His mind ticked off angels, and how best to destroy them. Some would be particularly dangerous. Ramiel and Arael would make any plan fall apart in a few seconds. Other angels, like Zeruel and Bardiel, would be stronger, but less likely to do anything surprising. However the angels like Leliel and Israfel would simply be hard to kill. 'We probable have the rifle for Ramiel,' he thought, 'and me and Asuka will have to do the synch dance to beat Israfel.' His mind began reworking the dance/attack in his head; it had been awhile since he'd last done it.
Soon he'd be butting heads with the Angels once more.
Asuka finished remembering the synch dance; it had been awhile since she'd last done it. She considered some of the other angels now. Thoughts of some of the Angels gave her the creeps slightly. Another, much larger part of her, was thinking more along the lines of payback
Arael had raped her mind and humiliated her. That one would definitely pay first. Zeruel as well was high on her hit list. Gaghiel was there as well; no one possesses Asuka Langley Soryu's body and keeps living! 'What about Sandalphon?' she thought. She had forced Asuka to be rescued to Rei. 'Yes,' Asuka thought, 'she will pay.'
Soon nearly every Angel was on her payback list. Revenge was high on her mind.
She continued to review plans as she made a fifth final check on her weapons and armor. Unit 02 was ready now.
Touji fell asleep.
He had a nightmare that Bardiel took over his Evangelion again. He dreamed that he had to fight him as the entry plug caved in.
The nightmare ended with him seeing Hikari possessed by Sandalphon.
Touji awoke with an angry start. He gritted his teeth and decided that after Bardiel Sandalphon was going to get it.
He sat back and gripped the controls loosely. His thoughts swam towards his now dead crush. He missed her. He had not forgotten his promise to bring her back.
"Hikari," he said in the dense LCL like substance, "this is for you."
Touji began checking his weapons. They were in order. Soon his thoughts turned to how best to carry extra rockets. Soon he would need to be using them.
Rei made a log of which enemies to hit first. It started with Ramiel, and then went to Arael and on down the line. 'I must not miss,' she thought.
She practiced a few shots in virtual, lining up the sights on the target. She did not miss the practice shots so she decided to check on the actual rifle.
She turned Unit 04 to look at the rifle strapped next to her. It was still there, and would be ready whenever she decided she needed it.
Logani counted down the time until they would need to land. He did not want them to come down on top of the Angels, far from it. He would've preferred they land as far away as possible, but they were pressed for time.
His mind pulled up a world map, left over from when Ireul had been storing things in his brain, and zoomed in on Antarctica. It showed literally nothing, the radiation from Adam's first attack having blanked out the whole continent.
Logani was going to have to wing their landing location. Much as he hated doing it that was their only option. Rei would have to find a suitable location from there.
Antarctica was reborn. The great ice continent had been destroyed by Adam's advent, but now it was reforming at an accelerated rate. Already there was a land mass a little bit bigger then Rhode Island.
If the Angels had never existed scientists would have argued about it in millions of ways. Global climate change, gift from God, and quite a few others would've been talked about around the world.
As it was, that being with the Angels, there would not be a big outcry from something as strange as the reformation of a continent. Even if it was recreated in only about twenty minutes.
Strange things were signs of the time.
"Alright," Logani's voice crackled over the radio, "set them down here."
They were a little bit more then half-way into the continent when he spoke. They descended onto the frozen plains and landed.
Logani was forced to reactivate himself as a battery once more. Asuka activated Unit 02 and removed her weapons from the storage bays located on it. She put the carrier onto the ground and turned to face the others. They had all already done the same. She deactivated Unit 02 so Logani could speak again.
"Good," he said, "here's the plan. Rei will snipe; the rest of you will spread out and surround the Messengers. Rei needs to decide on her position before the rest of you can set up. One more thing, I won't be able to help you as long as Unit 02 is operational. Alright? Let's go."
Unit 02 powered up once more and Asuka picked up her weapons. Shinji and Rei followed suit. Unit 16's jaw was dropped wide open. "That's the plan!" Touji demanded, "That just sounds like 'go kill them'!"
"Shut up Touji," Asuka said with a smirk, "We've tried crazier plans and they've worked."
"I agree," said Rei, "Major Katsuragi had much stranger plans then this."
"Like the one that had all three of us catching Sahaqiel," said Shinji.
"Or the rescue plan to save Shinji from Leliel," Asuka said without thinking.
"There was a rescue plan?" Shinji asked a little confused. He'd never really been told about it if there was one.
Asuka froze. By mutual consent everyone had agreed to never mention the rescue plan in front of Shinji. If he knew they'd been prepared to sacrifice him…
Asuka narrowed her eyes and stormed off. She did not like being humiliated, especially in a way that no one else understood.
Rei set off, Custom Positron Rifle put over her shoulder. Touji gathered up his weapons in both hands and followed, still wondering about the plan.
This left Shinji alone, wondering about some kind of a rescue plan. 'Wait a sec,' he thought, remembering, 'it doesn't matter. We've got a battle to fight.' He set off after the others, leaving the carriers alone.
The Angels had picked a pristine location for their resurrection of their father. The stood around in a loose group, waiting for the resurrection to really begin.
They'd placed Adam in the same place he'd been destroyed, a necessary part of the resurrection, and had begun pouring large amounts of energy into him. It was only a matter of time until he was revived.
The loose group was, quite frankly, out in the open. They were in the middle of large tundra, mountains of ice crushed upwards about a mile away from them. In other words they were in the middle of a wide canyon, with the mountains just the right distance away.
This was a wide canyon. Probable about three miles wide, and about six miles long. The mountain ranges were not excessively tall, but were steep. This would make it difficult for any target to escape the area.
In other words snipers dream.
Maybe that was what had killed Adam the first time.
Rei picked her spot. It was at one end of the canyon, allowing her sights to cover the whole thing. She was slightly elevated, so as to be able to shoot down on her targets. It was very nearly perfect.
The only real weakness was the color. Nearly everything in the area was white. From ice to snow it was all white. Unit 04 was silver. Silver that blended in alright, but not perfect.
Asuka took a position to Rei's right, ready to sweep in and block any movement to the right. Shinji took to the left and Touji armed his first rocket somewhere behind Rei. The ambush was prepared.
Rei took aim on her first target, Ramiel. He had to be taken out in order to stop any returning sniper fire. Ramiel was near the back of the group, an easy target. Rei did not fire.
She then took aim on her second target, Arael. He had to be taken out in order to stop a potential mind rape. The psychic attack he had done on Asuka could potentially render any Evangelion inactive. Arael was floating above the other angels, but facing obviously downwards. This time he was in range. Rei did not fire.
She moved back and forth between her two primary targets. Each time she would aim the shot at Ramiel quickly and precisely, before switching to target Arael.
She did nothing but this for over a minute. Then, when she was satisfied that she would be able to hit both of them quickly, she checked the rifle one last time.
The chord going from the rifle into Unit 04s shoulder was secured. Power would not be a problem. The sight was secured to the rifle well. The barrel had been replaced with an appropriate one. It was ready.
Asuka crouched on the right, shotgun clenched in her arms. As soon as Rei fired Asuka would be going in. She would be in position in only a few seconds.
Shinji checked the palette rifle one last time. The extra clips and pistol were secured to his left shoulder pylon, his progressive knife being in the right one. When Rei shot he would move. But first he needed last communication. "Avoid Leliel," he said, "and me and Asuka will have to take Israfel out eventually. Avoid both of them otherwise." There was only three whispers to acknowledge that he had spoken and been understood.
Touji had the RPG prepared, spear attachment ready to be placed on to replace the missile in an instant. When Rei fired he planned to follow Shinji, covering as he could with the rocket.
Rei finished checking the rifle and casually placed it back on the ridge. She inhaled, fired, and exhaled.
Ramiel had the greatest detection radius of all the Angels. It was able to detect the heat and energy released from the Custom Positron Rifle almost immediately. Ramiel was also able to recognize the shot for what it was.
After all, it had been destroyed by the same thing last time.
Unfortunately for Ramiel it was not pointed straight into the blast. Rei's position had made it so Ramiel would not be split from end to end. It also would not be able to intercept the blast.
Ramiel threw up her AT-field for an instant, but the shot broke through. It connected with her blue exterior and began melting towards her core.
Rei had already fired again.
Arael had only the brief realization that Ramiel was hit before he could feel another one coming. It was aimed straight at him, as so many shots had been aimed at him before his first death.
But now he wasn't thousands of feet up into the sky, being protected by distance. Now all he had was his meager AT-field. It was not going to stop it.
Arael managed to shift slightly so the shot did not decapitate him. He fell to the ground, landing on Armisael and Sahaqiel. They were momentarily flattened under Arael.
The Angels fanned out into a circle so that they were protecting their fallen brother and sister, and Adam.
Rei targeted Zeruel next. She sent a burning blast of heat straight towards were he had taken up position.
This time they all felt it coming. That gave them the chance to do something about it.
More then one AT-field blocked the shot this time. It was dissipated with no effect.
Zeruel, who had almost been killed, followed the path of the shot back to where Rei was hiding. He returned fire.
Rei rolled out of her position and began sliding down the ice range she had been camping on. Behind her cross-shaped blasts vaporized were she had been. She checked her NAV markers on the others.
Asuka was beginning to close in on them from the right. She would be ready to meet them should they decide to go in that direction.
Shinji had the left in a similar fashion, but with Touji a little bit further away from Rei. Touji would not be able to take one side alone and he knew that. Therefore he'd decided to stay close to Shinji. Good.
Rei reached the bottom of her slide and stood.
Nothing happened.
She gritted her teeth and moved forward.
It had always been assumed by the Evangelion pilots that when Rei began firing the Angels would move. It hadn't occurred to them that they might just camp on Adam.
This was bad. If the Angels remained like they were Adam would be reborn without any sort of further complications.
Rei finished briefing the others on the above. There was a pause for a moment before Asuka responded. "Then we'll just have to give them something to come out for," she said.
Rei agreed. Shinji nodded on screen and Touji followed the recommendations of the more experienced pilots.
They headed out into the open.
Unit 02 was the first to come forward. It simply walked out into the Angel perimeter, shotgun thrown over its shoulder. It was ready to fight these things and its pilot was pissed. She'd wanted to be the one to get Arael this time.
The Angels fixated on it for a second, as if preparing to destroy it in its stupidity. Before they could Unit 04 came into their line of sight, sniper rifle held with two hands in front of it, barrel sloping slightly. A few turned to look at it. By now Armisael and Sahaqiel were out from under Arael and were targeting the sniper. Being crushed made them pissed.
It was the third and fourth arrivals that startled the Angels the most. Unit 01 they had destroyed, yet here it was, smiling its insane grin at them. Their brother Tabris arriving, in a heavily modified body, was also strange.
Sachiel cocked his head as if trying to communicate. He looked straight at Touji's unit. Inside Touji cringed slightly.
Tabris? Tabris? Why aren't you answering?
He's not answering because he's not in there, Sachiel.
They killed him
And took his body…
They will pay for this
And the resurrection of the other one as well
Yes, for resurrecting that imitation of father.
Angels cannot show anger like humans can. Only a few of them have any faces at all, therefore a scowl was usually impossible. Those few with faces did scowl, but the others had to show their anger in different ways. Different ways as in attacking blindly.
Sachiel, Zeruel, and Shamshel went after Shinji. That was the only real chance he got to see of what happened. Immediately he was in a fight for his life.
Shinji ducked Sachiel's beam attack, and then had to dive out of the way to avoid Zeruel's. He rolled, came up, and found Zeruel attacking him with his paper-thin arms. They made short jabs, already most of the way extended, so that Shinji had little time to react to them. He barely managed to dodge them, let alone stop them.
On instinct he turned around. Shamshel had taken up a position behind him, whip like blades of light ready to impale him if he'd waited just a second longer. Shinji went into another dive to his left. He came up ready this time.
Shamshel and Zeruel turned to face him, Sachiel coming in between them. 'Here we go again,' thought Shinji. Then they went again.
Touji fired another rocket at his opponent, who easily dodged the slow moving projectile with a front flip.
Bardiel landed right in front of Touji, a grin on the sickly face of Unit 03. Touji swung the RPG launcher at him but Bardiel caught it in one elongated arm.
Touji threw a punch with his other arm but Bardiel caught that as well. Bardiel began to twist the arm in a sickening direction. Touji let out a soft cry of pain before he retaliated.
Bardiel blinked as he realized that Touji was no longer holding the RPG launcher. Then Touji slammed his fist into Bardiel's face. Bardiel did a back-flip this time. Touji recovered the RPG launcher and quickly reloaded it. He faced Bardiel again, this time a little bit more assured of his chances.
Asuka was just barely managing to keep away from Sandalphon's beam attack. She had learned quickly that while each shot was not very damaging, there were a shit load of them coming out of its face.
'Plan Asuka!' she demanded of herself. She had Sandalphon, Israfel, and Gaghiel against her. 'You've beaten them all before!' she thought. Another part of her responded with, 'You didn't beat them all at once! And you had Shinji there for all three of them.'
She was not going to put up with that sort of defeatist bullshit in her own head! She flicked the shotgun around and drew a quick bead on Sandalphon. She fired a quick series of shots and kept moving, not even waiting to see if they connected. It wouldn't matter anyway; she'd long since realized that long range weapons were rarely useful against the Angels.
Her shots momentarily stopping Sandalphon, she turned to face Gaghiel and Israfel. The twisted form of an Evangelion that Gaghiel had taken had pointed claws and large fangs. Asuka was not about to let that stop her.
Gaghiel came at her first, swinging with a horizontal blow. Asuka ducked it and came up on the outside of Gaghiel's defenses. If it wasn't for Israfel, Gaghiel would've died right there.
Israfel entered with two attacks, a strike with its left and a sweep with its right. Asuka rolled to the right of the Angel and considered striking it. 'No,' she thought, 'it'll be more dangerous split.' She left it alone, choosing to go after the already re-prepared Gaghiel.
'Reflexes are through the roof,' Asuka thought happily as she engaged Gaghiel. She scored a hit with her shotgun at close range. The Angels spun around, now missing one of its arms.
Israfel tried to counter her again but she simply decided to jump over it. She landed on the other side of it, dropped her shotgun, and dropped onto her hands. She spun her feet around beneath her and kicked Israfel's feet out from under it. The Angel fell onto its side.
Asuka went after Gaghiel again. She caught its remaining hand when it attempted to strike her. She flipped her knife out and into her left hand and drove it into the Angels core. She licked her lips as the Angel exploded.
She turned back to Sandalphon.
Rei's shot was right on. It tore Sahaqiel's AT-field into pieces and damaged its shoulder.
The lumbering Evan form Sahaqiel had taken was useless. The only advantage it had was speed, and that had just meant that Rei and it had broken away from Armisael and Matariel.
Or had they? Rei felt as much as saw the shadow cover her. She looked up, bringing the sights with her.
Even as her shot tore through Materials weak AT-field the acid landed on her. It ate through the Custom Positron Rifle mostly, destroying her primary weapon. Some also landed on her legs and head. Robertus complained as Rei moved out from under the corpse of Matariel.
The spider's head landed were she had been only a second before. Rei turned again to look at Sahaqiel. Apparently Matariel was not the only Angel to have caught up. Armisael was with Sahaqiel, and they were coming on fast.
Rei spread her Eva's legs apart and drew her progressive knife. She stretched out her arms, putting the blade in her left palm, with the handle in her right. She was as prepared as she was going to get.
Sahaqiel came on her right, Armisael on her left. She swung…
Asuka kicked her foot up high. It connected with Sandalphon's face and sent the floating Angel sprawling backwards. Asuka turned around in midair to face Israfel. The Angel stabbed both its arms straight out into Asuka's shoulders.
She dropped her shoulders, eliminating most of the impact, and backhanded Israfel in the face with both hands. She looped her arms around and joined them above her head. She slammed them downwards into Israfel's neck, breaking it.
Asuka landed and dusted her Evangelion off. Israfel slammed into the ground and began to regenerate its neck tissue. Sandalphon struggled to get up. Asuka approached it, shoulders aching slightly.
She picked up her shotgun on route to Sandalphon. 'Who should I help next?' she thought. Touji was only facing one and would be the easiest to free from battle. Rei seemed to be doing fine against hers; Asuka could see her finishing off Sahaqiel a little ways off. Shinji appeared to be in trouble against his three. 'Baka,' Asuka thought, 'he's the best out of all of us? Yeah right, can't even see what's going on around him.
Asuka had reached Sandalphon when the air suddenly seemed to grow heavier. 'I've felt this before,' she thought, 'but….ow shit!'
She raised the shotgun to aim at the bi-colored Angel floating above her. Already she could feel it would not matter. 'The bullets will pass right through it,' she thought. They did.
The ground grew stickier and heavier. Asuka felt herself begin to sink. "Help!" she shouted, a miracle in and of itself, "Somebody help me!"
Shinji was to busy fighting to even think. He had to move at precise times or be absolutely destroyed by Sachiel, Zeruel, and Shamshel. Asuka's cry didn't even touch his ears or eyes.
Touji was scrambling to get another rocket off. He heard Asuka's cry and managed to at least turn to look. He saw her underneath Leliel but did not realize what it would mean. 'Asuka can take care of herself,' he thought. Another part of him screamed, 'You moron! Then why's she yelling for help?'
Rei was the only other pilot in any position to do anything. She turned and started sprinting for Asuka's position. Armisael began to trail after her.
As Rei ran she calculated. Within five seconds she knew that she would not make it.
"Shinji! Touji! Rei!" Asuka screamed as she struggled, "Help me!" she reached out her hand as her head went under the black wall of no return.
His name got Shinji's attention. He paused for a moment in his battle to see what Asuka was yelling about. He ran backwards to put some space between himself and his opponents and hazarded a glance towards Asuka's position.
Or former position.
His brain collapsed inwards as he saw the last piece of her hand enter the Sea of Dirac. Blood vessels in his eyes exploded. He had flashbacks.
'You're last few hours with her,' his brain thought, 'You argued with her. You let her die, knowing that you were angry with her.'
His thoughts swam and began to suffocate. 'Asuka,' his mind thought at a snails pace, 'she's…. gone.'
His first kiss.
Synch training.
Piloting with her.
Saving her in the volcano.
Her screams as Arael raped her mind, the helplessness he'd felt.
Her coma-like existence towards the end of the first wave.
Trying to talk to her at the hotel after the Tabri attack.
The look in her eyes when he finally saw her in Australia.
Her defiance right before Michel had taken her body away from her.
The cave with Tabris' body, stopping her from attacking Kowaru.
Arguing with her, thinking he hated what she thought about war.
Pain.
Shinji snapped and left. Unit 01 came in his place.
"Asuka!" echoed around the whole Antarctic continent. Unit 01 leaned back its head and roared in a way that only it could.
Unit 01 lowered its head and hunched over in an animal like posture. It held its knife in a loose, backhanded way. It was ready to spill blood.
It charged.
Rei stopped her mad rush towards were Asuka had been. She paused for a moment, staring into the inky blackness.
Sandalphon's body had sunk into the deep as well now. Nearby Israfel was beginning to stand up again, its neck regenerated.
Rei whipped around to face the still charging form of Armisael and Unit 00. Before the Angel could react Rei had planted her arm so as to catch it in the throat. They collided and struggled.
Rei kept it at arms length as she made her decision. It seemed very far away that Shinji was roaring and making battle upon the other Angels. Rei closed her eyes in serenity.
She flipped Armisael and herself into the Sea of Dirac. They began to sink almost immediately. Leliel watched passively as Armisael began to thrash around in its death throes. Rei simply waited for her to be emptied into the infinite darkness below.
Shinji was beyond caring at anything. He headlong charged into the reach of Shamshel, Zeruel, and Sachiel. The Angels were momentarily caught off guard at the speed and ferocity of the charge.
Not only was Unit 01 fully berserk now, its "restraints" were completely removed. It was fighting at its maximum potential power level. That pretty much sucked for the Angels.
Shamshel's tentacles had long since been unfolded to maximum length. This meant that it had the longest reach it could get. It also meant that if anything got too close Shamshel would most likely not be able to pull them in fast enough.
Such was the case. Unit 01 went in through the tentacles and gutted Shamshel with an effortless stroke of its hand. Shamshel ceased to be.
Zeruel was very similar to Shamshel in the fact that they both had whip-like appendages. It also meant they had similar weaknesses. Unit 01 was breathing raggedly after such a quick action as two kills, but it was far from exhausted.
Israfel, having its opponent gone, rushed to join Sachiel. 'Two on one now?' the berserk part of Shinji's mind echoed, 'easier then before.'
The berserker did not think of the consequences. It just split Israfel down the middle. It turned back to face Sachiel, not realizing that it had just fallen into a trap.
Touji's eyes were stained with the beginnings of tears. He hadn't realized what that zebra ball could do, and now Asuka and Rei were gone. He had never really liked either one of them, but was not happy to see them go.
His next shot missed Bardiel by a good 100-meters. Bardiel snorted and began to walk towards Touji at a casual pace. Its smile disappeared when the ground beneath it began to crack and collapse. Bardiel was dumped into the freezing water below.
Touji turned and began to walk to where Shinji was fighting, intent on helping his friend so as not to see him die as well. However, Bardiel was not done yet.
Only a few tens of seconds after he had fallen into the water he was free. Touji turned to face him again, anger clearly written on his face.
They locked in battle once more.
Rei kept all of her systems running, including her exterior lights. Her s2 organ would allow her to continue to have power for an eternal amount of time.
She didn't have that long. If she was trapped in here for a few weeks she thought for sure she'd go insane. The blackness outside was unabated by everything.
All systems reported nothing. Rei could see nothing outside, despite the fact that her lights were on. She should've been able to see the light coming from them, but even that was blocked out.
She could not see anything … smell and taste would be useless, even if they did work. That left feeling and hearing. Perhaps the radio would work?
"Calling Pilot Soryu," Rei said on all channels. Only static greeted her. Rei gritted her teeth in uneasiness. She flipped on the external speakers and tried those.
At first there was nothing. Sound must have something to bounce off of to get back to the sender. Therefore, when Rei heard the sound from her speakers in the cockpit she knew that it must have bounced off of something.
"Rei?" it was only a whispered word, as it if was across a great distance.
"Yes," she said externally, "I can hear you, but just barely."
"Same here," came back across the void.
"Pilot Soryu, we must get out of here. I find the darkness very depressing and I fear for both of our sanity if we remain here."
There was a pause before Asuka responded. "I have an idea."
"Please try it, if it will get us out of here."
"I'm going to try to wake up Logani."
"That may cause you to lose power."
Another pause. "It's the only thing we can do, isn't it?"
"I suppose…" Rei said.
Inside Asuka's plug the infinite sign that had represented her power supply switched to a five minute countdown. She hastily powered down most of her systems so that only her external speakers and listeners were running. Logani was waking up.
"Ladies," he said calmly, "want to tell me were we are?"
"Sea of Dirac inside Leliel," Asuka reported quickly. "We need a way out of here."
Logani looked over the outside of Unit 02. "This thing isn't going anywhere," he said calmly.
"Don't tell me there's no way out of here," Asuka said angrily, "Shinji got out and so can we."
"You misunderstood," he said, "Unit 02 needs to be vacated because it isn't going anywhere. It's way to damaged and I don't think I can power it again from in here."
"How did I get damaged?" Asuka demanded.
"Leliel made a few modifications to this new body," Logani said, "Including a few maggots out here that are already burrowing into Unit 02. We need to get out of here before you get digested."
Asuka threw up in her plug, not for the first time, and ejected it. Logani latched onto it and used his AT-field to pull himself and the plug to Unit 04. "Grab us Rei," he said. She did.
Logani turned back in the direction of Unit 02 and pointed his finger at it. "Sorry Asuka, no digestion systems. Just needed a bomb to flush this toilet," he apologized.
"What!"
Unit 02 exploded and ripped a hole in the fabric of space. Unit 04 was pulled downwards into the rip, clutching Unit 02s plug and Logani.
Leliel trembled. Not again.
Unit 04 was literally dropped out of the bottom of the sphere. Leliel dissipated in an instant, simply fading from existence this time.
Rei trembled and shakily got Unit 04 to its feet. She turned and saw that they were not the only ones to have been dropped out of the hole. Sandalphon and Armisael had fallen as well. Sandalphon had a large hole were its core should've been, destroyed by Unit 02s detonation. Armisael would've made it to its feet if Rei hadn't stabbed it through the face and then broken its core.
They were free.
Unit 01 looked up from its fighting and its pilot regained a measure of control and sanity. Rei and Asuka were alive and well.
'They escaped,' his mind could barely realize it. He only had a moment to look at them before Sachiel and the two Israfel's engaged him again.
He heard the shot though.
He ripped around to look at what he'd thought was the wreck of Ramiel.
It was no wreck.
Rei put up Unit 04's AT-field in an instant. It was just that that wasn't strong enough.
Logani's and Rei's own AT-field materialized and managed to stop it. Asuka's jaw dropped. "You can use those like that?" she asked.
"Of course," Logani said.
Ramiel fired shot after shot. Rei was pinned down and not going anywhere.
That made her an easy target for her secondary target.
A feint trickle of light shot out of Arael. Asuka gasped as she prepared to witness her nightmare once more.
But it wasn't Asuka that felt it. It was Arael's nearly two time killer, Rei.
Conception in a tube.
No mother, no father.
No happiness, no caring.
Following Gendo Ikari everywhere, trying to prove herself to him.
Death by the old hag.
Reconception in the second body.
Fighting the Angels.
Reconception in the third body.
Meeting Shinji, Asuka, and Misato for what felt like the first time.
The death of her sisters.
Killing the Tabri of Empathy and Irony.
The Death of Gendo Ikari, unpossesion of the third body.
Repossession of the third body.
Going after Asuka in the Sea of Dirac.
Having her mind raped.
Rei did not feel a great amount of pain; she had few secrets for Arael to reveal to her. She had few memories of her past two lives. All she missed was the ability to move.
Arael had frozen her. She could not stop the giant of white from coming to take her.
"Mother," Rei wept as Lilith approached.
Logani swore and broke open Unit 02s plug. He pulled a protesting Asuka out of the seat and raced to the back of Unit 04. He climbed down the back and smashed the plug out.
He didn't have the leverage to pull, so all he could do was punch it. It went out the front, breaking the core and freeing Robertus' soul. Parachutes deployed off of the plug as it crashed into the ground.
Logani, still holding Asuka, jumped off of Unit 04 as Lilith began to bash it to pieces. He landed hard, breaking a few bones in his leg. He used the other one to reach Rei's plug. He pushed his AT-field to heal his broken leg as he ran.
Rei was already out and starting to run. Logani followed her across the frozen landscape, searching for a place to wait the battle out.
Shinji gritted his teeth. He'd sensed Logani rescuing Rei and Asuka. It was good that they were alive, but bad that Unit 04 and Unit 02 were both gone.
He could only take on so many of them, even most of the way berserk. Touji was still having trouble with Bardiel…
'Some of these Angels need to be eliminated,' he thought.
Bardiel, Sachiel, Israfel, Ramiel, Arael, and Lilith were the only ones left. Less then half were still alive. 'If Touji can keep Bardiel busy,' he thought, 'I can finish off a few of these and then help him.' It was a plan.
He dodged a blow from Sachiel and moved past the Angel. His target, Lilith, was far enough away that none of the others would be able to interfere fast enough.
He was on her in an instant. He jumped, landed on her shoulders, and reached for her eyes. Lilith tried to fend him off but was just to slow. Shinji clawed her eyes out and jumped off of her. She fell.
Ramiel sent a shot out after him but he was already moving to her. Ramiel kept shooting though and drove Shinji away. As he was running Shinji felt something else lock onto him.
Arael was launching another psychic assault, and this time his target was Shinji.
But the berserker would not be stopped. Even as Arael shuffled through his memories Shinji got closer and closer to him.
Something as fickle as Shinji's past was not going to stop him from killing these Angels. Shinji reached Arael and was prepared to give the death blow when Ramiel fired again.
Shinji dodged it and ducked behind Arael. He reached again for the kill. Ramiel shot again. Unit 01 smiled and simply jumped out of the way. Arael was vaporized in the path of the shot.
Shinji hit the ground running. He crossed to Ramiel and slid close to the cannon. Now Ramiel was at the wrong angle to hit Shinji. It turned but Shinji turned with it. Unit 01 smiled sickly at the distressed Angel. In frustration Ramiel self-destructed.
Touji and the remaining Angels stopped to watch the explosion. "Oh," Touji said weakly, "oh shit." He looked over at Bardiel. So far all he'd been able to do was get the Angel a little wet.
'Come on Touji!' he thought, 'You can beat this asshole!'
Bardiel turned back to him, another one of those sick smiles on his face, and charged. Touji countered with his spear attachment but was knocked down. Bardiel and Unit 16 rolled around on the ground, each vying for the upper hand.
Shinji climbed out of the water and turned to look at the smoke cloud left by Ramiel's explosion. He, and Unit 01, both spit. That water was cold.
Shinji turned away from the explosion and found himself already under attack again. The Israfel's and Sachiel were practically on top of him already. He put up a hand to protect himself…
…and Sachiel grabbed it and stabbed his harpoon into it. Unit 01 roared and threw Sachiel off. The three angels facing Shinji backed off momentarily.
Shinji nursed his wounded hand. 'What to do?' he though, 'Asuka's gone. No way Touji will know the synch dance…I have to kill Israfel alone now.' Plans formed in his head. They revolved, more then a little, around Unit 04's knife. It had fallen not far behind where Sachiel was standing.
In a not so rare moment of insanity Shinji chose to charge the middle of the group. Sachiel and the Israfel's on either side of him were surprised by it, to say the least.
Shinji shoulder plowed Sachiel and kept going. The Israfel's were not going to let him escape easily though. Each of them raked his sides with their claws. Inside the entry plug Shinji let out a cry of agony and dove forward.
Sachiel managed to stand up and turn to face Shinji. The Israfel's were already closing on Shinji. He was chest down, arms out-stretched as if reaching for something.
When one of the Israfel's was just about to step onto Shinji's back he moved into action. He used, his own and Rei's, the knives to pull himself forward. He turned the momentum into a roll and pushed off upwards into a jump.
In mid-air he turned and took aim. He threw both of the knives at the same precise moment, sending them on identical paths to the cores of the Israfels.
They reacted in the same way, reaching for the knives, having their fingers sliced off and clutching the knives as the penetrated their cores. They fell in the same way.
Sachiel took a step backwards when Unit 01 landed, smiling.
Touji finally figured out a way to kill Bardiel.
He'd forgotten he'd been carrying it the whole time, strapped to his left shoulder pylon. As soon as he had a brief moment away from Bardiel he pulled it loose and tossed it up and down in his hand.
He smiled, thinking of what it would do. Bardiel watched him wearily, not understanding what the napalm grenade was capable of.
Finally Touji pulled the pin and tossed it loosely at Bardiel. Bardiel caught it and starred at it calmly. He turned to look at Touji and then took his arm back as if to throw it back.
'What's he think we're playing here?' thought Touji, amused, 'A game of catch?' He made his unit smile right before the detonation.
The fire consumed Bardiel, who died in screaming agony. Touji dusted off his hands and turned to look out at the battle field. Very far away he could just make out the shape of Unit 01 fighting one last angel. "Only one left?" he said, disappointed. He hurried to where Shinji was fighting Sachiel.
Logani finally put Asuka down when they were half-way up the ice range. She crossed her hands beneath her breasts and glared murder at him. "You blow up my unit and then cart me all the way up here!" she yelled, "Can you even give me one reason why I shouldn't disembowel you on the spot!"
Logani walked over to the edge of the little terrace he'd chosen to stop on and looked down across the frozen plains. His answer was long in coming as he studied the battle scene. "Because you can't," he finally answered. Asuka gritted her teeth and lay down on a frozen boulder.
Rei joined them shortly, having reconed the area for possible problems. If she found any she didn't report them. She looked at Asuka, looked at Logani, and sat down cross-legged so that the three of them formed a triangle. "How is the battle?" she asked.
Logani thrust his hands into his pockets to warm them before he replied. "Looks like we may have it won," was his answer.
Rei gave a small smile. Asuka gave a soft, "Umph," and tried to see over the edge of the terrace from where she sat.
Below them Shinji and Sachiel still dueled. But Shinji had the ever closing advantage of Touji.
It would be over soon. The only real threat left was the little hand of the former Gendo Ikari, floating ever higher, ever slowly. But no one saw that. Not even you.
Shinji flipped Sachiel over him and attempted another killing blow, only to have it nearly reversed on him as Sachiel extended one of its harpoons. Shinji was forced to fall back slightly.
Shinji prepared himself for another go, but then realized that he might not need it. He made Unit 01 stand up and point over Sachiel's shoulder. The last remaining Angel looked over its shoulder.
Touji was still quite a distance away. He was ever growing closer, but was not here yet. Sachiel turned back to Unit 01, wondering why it had pointed.
Unit 01 cut Sachiel in half at the waist. Shinji began cleaning the destroyed organs off his knife even before Sachiel had hit the ground. 'Oldest trick in the book,' he thought. Shinji looked across the arctic wasteland, eyes searching for something. Finally he found it.
Touji slowed down when he saw Shinji finish off the last one. He approached him slowly; he'd heard a lot of stories about berserkers before. He did not want Shinji to mistake him as an Angel. Not at all.
"Shinji?" he asked hesitantly. There was no answer, Unit 01 just walked over to a patch of ice and reached into it.
"Shinji? You okay man?" Touji said. 'Perhaps seeing the girls killed was too much for him,' he thought.
Shinji withdrew Unit 01s hand, palette rifle clutched in its right hand. He reached his other hand in and grabbed the pistol in his left hand. Mechanically, he checked both guns for ammunition and damage. His knife was stored his shoulder pylon on impulse, his body already checked for damage. Unit 01 had long since regenerated any damage it had received.
Just as Touji was about to call out again, Shinji turned and replied. "Yeah Touji, I'm here," he said, voice calm as death.
"Glad to hear it. Bad luck with the girls man…" he trailed off.
Shinji shook his head. "They're okay. Unit 04 escaped Leliel and I think I saw Logani and Asuka with it. They're alive, I can feel it," he said confidently.
"Okay," Touji said, half overjoyed, half doubting his friend's sanity, "then what do we do now?"
"Something's bugging me," Shinji said, his voice beginning to show a glimmer of doubt, "but I can't figure it out. I mean, the Angels are all dead but we're still missing something here. I just can't put my finger on it."
As if to validate his words a gust of arctic wind blew in. "Storms coming," Touji said absent-mindedly. Shinji had seen more then just the wind though; he'd seen a much larger movement.
He turned to look at Sachiel's fallen corpse. The wind had moved it, Shinji would swear. But something of that size would need a great force to move.
The wind blew in again, this time strong enough to make Unit 16 tremble slightly. From his own unit Shinji saw Touji's shudder from the wind. 'No,' Shinji realized, 'if it was just wind I'd have been pulled by it too.'
The wind blew in again, but this time it did not abate. It was as if some great monster was slowly awakening. 'But all the monsters are dead,' Shinji thought.
No.
'Shit,' Shinji realized what he'd been missing. Puzzle pieces fell together in a wave. "Touji, eject your plug and get out of here, Logani will find you. Do it now. Adam is coming back."
Touji's jaw dropped as he realized that Shinji was right. He opened the exit to his plug and began climbing down the super structure. It was one long climb though…
Shinji set out towards were the Angels had been waiting.
"Shit!" Logani cursed, "Stay here until I get back!" Then he was gone, practically jumping off of the cliff. Asuka and Rei were both left to blink and stare at each other in confusion. The wind seemed to bite both of them harder right then.
Shinji was not going to make it. He reached the peak of another snow covered dune and saw only more spread out in front of him. 'These weren't here before,' he thought, 'Adam's trying to slow me down. He's trying to buy himself time to resurrect fully.'
Shinji saw something, two some things fly past him on his left. 'Sachiel?' he recognized briefly. Soon another form followed the first. This one Shinji recognized as Unit 16. 'He's drawing the flesh of all his children to him,' he thought.
Shinji was struck with a hideous fit of coughing then. Eight, short, fast, coughs.
Touji had had to plummet the last twenty feet to the ground. He'd felt Unit 16 giving way beneath him as he climbed and just decided to jump the end of it.
If he'd waited much longer he would have been pulled along with his unit. As it was he was under nearly twenty feet of snow after the fall. It kept him out of the cold though.
He put off his one sneeze to the cold that still permeated down to his level.
Asuka and Rei sneezed three times apiece, at roughly the same time. Afterwards each of them eyed the other wearily. "God bless you," was said by both, albeit in a slower much more confused way.
Neither girl could figure out if she was being mocked by the other.
Logani struggled to keep it in but at the end it was to no avail. As he ran towards were Touji had last been seen he thought, 'Good riddance Ireul.' At last he was rid of the eleventh Angel completely.
He skipped over the snow towards Touji, speed maximized in the blizzard.
Shinji reached the peak of the last snow-hill and looked down. Adam was floating in the air, body in a fetal position.
Even as Shinji began his descent Adam opened his eyes and raged.
He raged at the undying light within himself.
The initial shockwave flattened everyone within a hundred miles. Snow was melted in great waves and the continent of Antarctica began to decay once more. Unit 01 was thrown backwards and temporarily lost in the suddenly created sea.
Logani managed to shield himself and Touji, who he had barely managed to reach in time, from the great tidal waves emanating from Adam's position.
Rei threw up her AT-field beneath herself and Asuka, keeping them from falling with the ice range they'd been sitting on. Asuka used her field to protect herself and Rei from the sudden blast of air that shot out across the continent.
If one was in space, orbiting the planet Earth, one would see a small shockwave generated on the southern most continent. Next, one would see the loss of a great amount of white from that continental area.
Adam stood triumphant, for the moment.
One half-hour past first detonation
Logani flew himself and Touji up to where Rei and Asuka were waiting. Rei extended her AT-field to give them room to land and sit.
Staying alive had taken the better part of Logani's life. He was beyond exhaustion and had had to rest for awhile before he'd even considered flying himself and Touji up here on his AT-field.
"Any sign of him?" Logani asked after he finished panting.
"I haven't seen Shinji," Asuka said.
At the same time Rei said, "Adam has not moved from his position."
Neither girl even bothered to look at the other. Touji quirked an eyebrow though. Logani noticed that all the water had already evaporated, leaving barren rock below them.
"Wait," Asuka said, eyeing a moving boulder. The boulder broke and the unmistakable form of Unit 01 climbed free of the Earth's embrace once more. "That's him," Asuka whispered.
Shinji stood Unit 01 up and began walking towards Adam slowly. "He doesn't stand a chance," Logani said quietly. No one bothered to respond.
After that show of force, who would?
The palette rifle and the pistol were both gone, lost in the tumble after the impact. Shinji drew his progressive knife, hoping it would be enough to kill Adam. 'If its not then I'm already screwed,' he thought, 'But dammit I'll try anyway!'
Adam took notice of his advance. He lowered himself to the ground and began walking towards Shinji slowly. His steps were slow and lumbering. The Earth cracked with each footfall, and where there had been a footprint the Earth rotted.
Finally, Adam and its pale imitation were face to face for real. Both stopped and starred the other down, Unit 01s eyes being slightly damaged by looking into such a high concentration of light. Shinji chose to ignore the pain.
Adam moved in a flash, Shinji brought up his left hand to block the first blow. His hand swept the arm out of the way and both Adam and Shinji stayed still for a moment.
Then Shinji felt pain in his arm. A quick check revealed that Adam's body was eating through Shinji's arm. The momentary distraction was all Adam needed.
Adam's other arm knocked Shinji in the chest, sending him flying. The connection with the Earth hurt almost as much as the initial impact. Almost…
Shinji pulled himself up quickly, berserker senses taking control. Unit 01s arm began to heal itself at a faster rate, but not fast enough.
Adam came at him again. But this time Shinji had a little bit longer to prepare, Adam having to cover a greater distance. Shinji stabbed out with his progressive knife, hoping to force Adam into it.
Adam simply ceased to be in the path of the knife. He moved around it and came around behind Shinji. Unit 01 tried to turn, but was not fast enough. Shinji's straight attack had thrown it off balance. Adam landed a solid kick in Shinji's back.
Shinji flew through the air once more. This time the pain from hitting the ground, face first, was more then the initial hit. He struggled to stand.
"He's not going to win," Rei said flatly.
"Their never was much chance," Logani said calmly, "The original plan was to stop Adam's resurrection. There was never any thought of actually killing Adam."
Below, the battle continued.
Shinji stood again. Warily he looked Adam over. The giant was much faster then his size entailed. He was also simply hard to look at, the reflection of light bringing tears to Shinji's eyes after only a short gaze.
'Unit 01 is based off of this thing,' he thought, 'I should be stronger, and faster. I should be able to beat him.'
Shinji set himself with his blade in his left palm, the handle in his right. This would allow him to react to whatever Adam tried next.
Adam came at him again. Shinji waited for him to get close before making his move. Thinking Shinji would strike, Adam dodged at what seemed to be the last possible second. But it wasn't.
Shinji had guessed, based on Adam's record that he would dodge as late as possible. This allowed Shinji to wait for the dodge, and then strike.
The blade went through up to the hilt. Adam roared and Shinji pulled downwards. The blade tore a giant scar through Adam before coming out near Adams leg.
But Adam healed fast. Like, really fast. Like, before Shinji had finished his cut, the beginning of the cut was healed. Adam calmly punched Shinji again and sent him sprawling backwards.
Shinji was lost in a buzz for a little longer this time.
"We have to do something!" demanded Asuka.
"Like what?" spat Logani. "There's nothing that the four of us, even with Evangelions, could do to that thing. You saw how fast it healed,' he said, gesturing at Adam with a look of disgust on his face.
"We can't just take this lying down…" whispered Touji quietly.
Finally Shinji stood up again. He looked up and saw Adam inspecting his body. There were no cuts, no scars, and no damage at all. 'Impossible,' thought Shinji, 'he must have some weakness or he'd never have lost in the first place.'
Even if Adam had healed from it quickly, he was pissed off at having been hurt. In his mind he decided to finish off humanity now, to not give them another chance. He did not like pain.
Adam stretched out his wings for the heavens.
If one was in space, orbiting the planet Earth, one would see a pair of giant wings of light reaching to hit them. The wings could be followed down to the Southern continent were, if one had some kind of magnification, one could see Adam launching his AT-field.
Adam's AT-field spread out faster then anyone could possibly have tracked. Shinji threw up his right arm, and his own AT-field to try to block the attack.
For an instant, he saw his chance.
But then it was gone. Shinji's AT-field collapsed like a tent. The burning sensation he'd felt in his left hand earlier was amplified a thousand times over in his right. It burned off completely and then some.
Adam's second wave attack reached the shores of Antarctica. But no further. Adam was just warming up.
Rei's field gave in and all four NERV followers began to fall. It was only about twenty feet before Logani put his up and caught them. Still, it was frightening to find the ground simply gone from beneath you, even if it did come back.
The three pilots looked around at each other, their hearts caught in their throats. Their brains would catch up to them in a few minutes.
Logani just looked on, pessimistic in his last hour.
Shinji struggled up. His right arm was there. His whole body was there.
It just felt like his right arm and chest were gone, his left knee broken, and his head leaking something. It just felt like that.
Nearly enough to drive anyone insane.
Shinji struggled up. 'It was there,' he thought. It made sense, the accumulation of everything he'd learned in recent months. It would be the answer to all of this.
He set himself, body badly broken and burned, for the next attack of Adam. But now he was confident.
Adam let out a deep breath and turned back to look at Shinji. It would be so simple to just reach out and kill him now…but it was beneath him. Let him die with the rest of his kind.
The first two had been warm-ups. This one would be the real deal. It would be the obliteration of all life on Earth with the exception of one.
Adam.
He reached in and drew on his AT-field again. He set it free in all directions.
Shinji felt it coming. He sent out Unit 01's field to feel for it so he knew exactly where it was and when it would reach him. This would take perfect timing. Perfect, to the letter.
He snapped Unit 01's field in place in front of him. This would eliminate most of the damage that would be dealt in his area. More then halving what would happen to him without it.
Behind Unit 01's AT-field he placed his own. Nearly overlapping, close enough Adam would not see it until it was too late. It would eliminate almost all the rest of the damage.
First impact, Unit 01's AT-field broke. Second impact, Shinji's AT-field broke. Third impact, burned off what remained of Unit 01's skin.
But now Adam was defenseless. He had to concentrate on his AT-field elsewhere before he could even consider what to do next.
Shinji was within Adam's soul barrier, his AT-field. Shinji dashed forward. If he didn't hurry, Adam's AT-field would wipe the rest of the planet clean.
Shinji did not want to be left alone.
He had no knife; it had been dropped when his arm was destroyed. All he could do was stab forward with his left arm, hoping to hurt Adam enough to kill him before he could regenerate. He aimed for the center of the chest, needing to hit the core.
Impact.
Explosion.
Loss of consciousness.
Loss of life…
Imminent.
Well...two chapters left.