Disclaimer: Same as Chapter 1.
Chapter 42: Baruch
Misato blinked in surprise as her phone suddenly began to ring. She took the cell phone out of her pocket and glanced at the caller identification display.
The bridge. That's good, it looks like communications are back up. She hit the 'Talk' button and put the device to her ear, never letting up on her brisk pace the whole time.
"Major, are you there?" Hyuga said on the other end of the line, an undeniable hint of urgency in his tone.
"Hyuga, what the hell's going on up there? Why'd the power go out?"
"There's no time to explain that, Major. We need you to get back to Central Dogma as fast as you can. How far away are you?" Misato glanced at her watch before answering.
"...About ten minutes. Why, what's wrong?"
"The government just issued Special Order A-108." Misato furrowed her brow in confusion, unable to remember which 'A' level orders were which.
"What does that mean?"
"As of approximately 1535 hours today, NERV has lost its legal immunity and all authority's been transferred to the parliament. They've denied us the opportunity to surrender peacefully." Misato blinked and was quiet for a moment as she tried to take in what she had just been told.
"...'Surrender?' You mean they're planning to attack us!"
"Affirmative, Major. We've already detected ground troops and aerial support heading toward our location, but it'll be some time before they can get here." The Major narrowed her eyes, not sure if she was ready to face something like this but knowing that there was no way to avoid it.
"All right, get a security detail on Commander Ikari-- he should still be in the Hospital sector. And I want Pilots Ikari and Sorhyu collected and in their Evas. Get them them to a safe place outside the base as soon as you can."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Oh, and get the Fifth Child into a secure location." Hyuga hesitated at Misato's peculiar order.
"...Uh, Major, he's a prisoner. I don't think they'll come for him..."
"He's the reason they're coming, Hyuga," Misato said angrily. "Just make sure it happens! I'll be there as soon as I can!" With that, she clicked the phone off and began to run.
A pair of men outfitted in NERV's dark-blue security uniforms burst into the hospital room occupied by a blank-eyed redhead.
"Asuka Langley Sorhyu?"
She made no response other than that her eye shifted slightly in their direction to acknowledge their presence. One of the guards sighed to himself.
She's not even capable of walking on her own. This is ridiculous.
"Here. You need to put this on," the second man said as he handed her a fresh, shrink-wrapped Plugsuit. For a moment Asuka did nothing, then slowly lifted her arm to accept the bundle. As soon as it touched her hand, she felt a wave of cold desolation inside herself.
Why...do I have to pilot that thing again...?
She said nothing as she removed the rubber form-fitting suit from its plastic prison.
Ritsuko stood glumly behind her protege, who was busy making preparations for the coming seige. With her task done, the scientist was once again ignored. She would have already been sent back to her cell if the situation was not as bad as it was.
It won't be long now...
She took a glance over Maya's shoulder at the monitor on her console. The brunette seemed to be busy looking for something, apparently on orders directly from Misato. She watched inattentively until she noticed a certain video feed from the Detention Area. It looked like Kaworu's cell, but...
Suddenly something clicked inside the blonde's head. Making sure that no one would notice her, she dashed out one of the doorways that would lead to Terminal Dogma.
Near one of Headquarter's many entrances, two guards circled the wide hallway. Having just been put on alert to prepare for an invasion, most likely by the nation's Self-Defense Force, both men held their rifles in a prepared position, carefully watching for sudden movement as they exchanged positions. Suddenly the taller of the two noticed something moving in the shadows. He paused and approached the dark space between the entrance and the hall.
"Hey, you see something?" his companion queried. The tall guard stared at the shadows intently, but did not step into them.
"I thought I saw something..."
"Hmph. You're being paranoid." The guard who'd been looking sighed, than turned his back to the entrance.
"Yeah, I guess s--" He stopped in mid-sentence as a hand suddenly reached over his mouth from behind him and a long knife made a wide slash in his throat. The other guard stared in shock as a handful of black-clad soldiers, bearing the insignia of the JSSDF on their shoulders, materialized out of the darkness. The man who'd been cut collapsed on the ground, blood spilling from the injury like a shattered bottle of wine.
"Security to bridge, security to bridge, they've c--" He didn't have time to finish speaking into his headset as the muffled sound of a silenced pistol declared the end of his life as well. The three JSSDF soldiers signaled behind them, and suddenly the reinforced steel gate they had forged entrance through exploded, sending smoke into the hall and setting off the blaring alarms. Out of the billowing black cloud came an endless stream of armed soldiers and the pounding of boots upon steel as the attack on NERV finally began.
Misato reached the bridge just as the screaming of the klaxons began anew.
"You're late, Major Katsuragi!" Fuyutsuki growled as she struggled to catch her breath.
"Sorry, Commander-- no excuses," she managed between gasps, then turned to the bridge trio. "Status report!"
"They've broken through our first line of defense," Hyuga said urgently. "Motion sensors detect unauthorized entry at over 8 separate points on the main level!"
So that's what they were planning, Misato thought grimly. Send in the troops while we're waiting for the assault vehicles.
"Have you taken care of the Evas?"
"Unit-02 and its Pilot were lauched about 7 or 8 minutes before you arrived. It's currently resting at the bottom of the lake in the Geo-Front."
"Unit-02?" Misato furrowed her brow. "...What about Shinji?" Maya lowered her eyes in shame, but spoke nonetheless.
"Major...we weren't able to locate Unit-01's pilot before the attack began." Misato eyes widened as her face turned pale. "I-It's possible he's still alive, ma'am, but we--"
"JUST FIND HIM NOW!" the Major yelled in fury. "THEY'RE GOING TO KILL THESE CHILDREN IF THEY FIND THEM! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!"
Maya stared at her superior with fear on every inch of her face, to which the violet-haired woman softened slightly. Fortunately, Aoba broke the awkwardness.
"Major-- I've found him!" Misato looked over at the tech's monitor and saw someone curled up below a set of stairs in a dark, unoccupied part of the base.
That's him all right.
"Where is he?" Aoba squinted at the small number in the corner of the video feed that indicated location.
"...It looks like Level 9, Section R-23. I should tell you-- we couldn't locate the Commander or Kaworu Nagisa, either. They might have already been relocated--" When he heard no response from the Major, he turned around to see her brandishing a large, solid black Desert Eagle. "M-Major Katsuragi...?" Misato paid him no mind as she loaded a full clip into the handle of the powerful gun.
"...I'm going to retrieve the Third Child. As soon as I'm gone, I want you to lock down everything below Level 9-- If they get any farther than that, use Bakelite to slow them as much as you can." She slid the top of the gun back until she heard the telltale click of a bullet loading into place, the let it snap back. Once she was satisfied that it was ready, she slipped the Desert Eagle into the shoulder holster hidden beneath her red jacket. "...How long until they make contact with the bridge?"
"Based on their numbers and the speed by which they're breaking through the lower levels," Hyuga said as he turned to Misato, "...I'd say about 23 minutes and 47 seconds."
Hmm...I'll be cutting it close. I'll be lucky if I can get back before then.
"Oh, and by the way..." she said as she turned to the trio with a wry grin, "I don't want any of you fighting." At once Hyuga, Aoba and Maya opened their mouths to protest, but Misato cut them off. "I'm serious-- if any of you die in the line of combat you'll be posthumously demoted." With that sad attempt at humor a determined look became etched onto Misato's features as she set off toward the nearest stairwell. Fuyutsuki, who'd overheard everything but had not spoken, watched her go stoically.
Godspeed, Major Katsuragi.
Suddenly, Maya shouted out from her post as she turned to the screen in front of her.
"Commander Fuyutsuki-- the tanks have stopped!" She superimposed the display of overhead troop movement onto the display wall, so that it shared the screen with the display of overtaken areas of the base, which was rapidly spreading. Sure enough, surface vehicles had indeed stopped, about 5 miles from where NERV sat deep underground. Fuyutsuki stared at the monitor. Suddenly the reason for their unusual manuever became clear to him.
"Get onto the ground now." Maya looked at the Commander in concern.
"...Sir, what--"
"THIS IS AN ORDER-- ALL PERSONNEL, TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!"
On the surface of Tokyo-3, the leader of the tank batallion surrounding the remnants of the city gazed at the landscape with a pair of binoculars. He set them down as a soldier ran to his side.
"General, we've just recieved word from the 3rd division-- they're at proper drop elevation and all other vehicles have moved out of range." The General nodded curtly, and the soldier immediately spoke into his walkie-talkie.
"Confirmation recieved-- fire at will!"
Within moments the General looked through his field glasses again, and briefly saw a glint of metal falling rapidly toward the earth.
"Contact in 3...2...1..."
They were cut off as a overwhelming wave of light and sound shattered the silence around them, turning the sky temporarily red as a massive mushroom cloud erupted from where the N2 bomb had made contact.
The crew in the bridge who had not been quick enough to obey the Sub-Commander's order were knocked forcibly to the ground from the shock of the blast. The electrical monitoring systems shorted out from the energy released.
"...Is everyone all right!" Fuyutsuki said after the shockwave had subsided. A series of pained groans met his ears, which translated to the older man as a long series of 'yeses.' "How much damage did they manage to do?"
Aoba crawled up to his station and tapped uselessly at the keyboard.
"We've lost visual, but judging by the strength of that N2 blast...I'd say the Geo-Front's been compromised."