"Unit-05 has reached full power. Cranial nerve connections are secure, and we are ready to commence in the testing of Eva Unit-05."
"Alright then." Ritsuko said. She cleared her throat and spoke into the radio microphone. "Rei, we are now beginning your first test operation in Unit-05. We'll begin with basic motor functions and movements, do you understand?"
"Confirmed Dr. Akagi." Rei chirped over the radio.
"Okay then, I want you to extend your right arm directly outward from your right flank and level the top of your hand with your shoulder. You need not wait for my command, do it as ready with the rest of the exercise. If there is a problem I'll alert you."
"Understood." Unit-05's right arm arched up gracefully and straightened out.
"Okay Rei, that's good. Now, bring it out in front of you." The Eva's arm swung forward, pointing at them beyond the glass.
"Now, curl your hand into a fist, starting with your index finger and closing each one individually." Things proceeded like this for the next thirty minutes or so, stepping forward, backwards, side to side, more arm flexes. The procedure became somewhat repetitive and boring to Shinji after a while.
"Not exactly the most exciting thing I've ever seen an Eva do…" Shinji muttered. Without turning away from the glass Commander Ikari commented back on this.
"Maybe not exciting, but important nonetheless." He turned for a second to glance at Shinji out of the corner of his eye before turning back towards the glass. "Come take a look at this Shinji."
"Uh, yeah?" Shinji ventured up to the transparent partition from the area on the back wall he was leaning against. Gendo's gloved hand pointed at the Eva. "Focus on Unit-05's left hand whenever it moves its arm. See how it tends to lock up at the wrist?" Shinji eyed the Eva's left hand for a short spell, and sure enough it seemed to sometimes get stuck in one position.
"Yeah, I see it..." Shinji said. He looked up to his father, who remained facing the Eva and watching it ever closely the entire time. His brow furrowed.
"Now Shinji, in the case of a small hindrance such as this, the importance is not much… But if something like this had gone unnoticed in a leg joint or something of larger importance, it could mean parish in battle." Shinji sat still for a minute, gazing mindlessly through the glass. He was about to speak, when every klaxon in NERV sounded, calling all emergency response personnel to their respective locations.
"Commander Ikari!" Aoba shouted. "We've got a confirmation on the situation from the control room! They say that they've identified about sixty anomalies in the area, all confirmed with a bloodtype blue!" Shinji's eyes shot wide. Suddenly all things from his dream had re-spawned in his mind as if they were as real as best forgotten memories.
'Shit… Is it happening?' He thought. A shiver ran up his spine. 'But no… In that dream, there were more than sixty…'
"Shinji! Get back to the launch terminal of Central Dogma!" Commander Ikari alerted Shinji. No sooner had the boy turned around that Gendo had disappeared. He shook his head a few times as if to clear it.
"Dr. Akagi! What about Rei?" He asked her, wondering what her situation would be.
"Shinji I don't know if she's going to fight or not! But you have to suited up and in your Eva! Don't worry about anything else right now, all that's important is you getting on that launch pad!" She replied.
"Right!" He dashed out of the room and made the long procession through the corridors of Central Dogma and down the maintenance lift that lead down to the docking bay. He bolted into the locker room where he met up with Asuka. They said nothing but a quick "good luck" to one another before heading out fully suited. Within five more minutes both pilots were in their Eva's and ready to be launched. Shinji's stomach filled with something that felt like a car crash and an orgasm at the same time when the initiated the launch. The feeling crashed to a halt at the time once he breached the surface. To his side Asuka stood as well. He took his firearms and prog. Knife from the assorted fold out brackets at the top of the chute and stepped out into the streets. They were abandoned and empty once again. He couldn't confirm the angel visually right away, so he waited for the coordinates from Central Command.
"Shinji! Asuka! We have the coordinates of the angels for you."
"Right!" The two replied. Shinji brought up a topographical map of the area. Suddenly if filled with sixty small blue dots.
"We haven't been able to completely identify what the angels are like right yet! But we do have an idea as too their size. They are very small, and if you'll notice they're lining the outskirts of the East forest, so it looks like they're hiding for now. Investigate them, and take 'em out!" Misato informed the pilots over the Comm. Link.
"Okay! Pilot Three of Unit-01 moving out!"
"Pilot Two of Unit-02 moving out!" Both units ran out into the open half doubled over their rifles, heading East of the city.
"Shinji! There's a plateau that directly overlooks the clearing just in front of the forest! Let's dig in there and scan out the area first."
"Wait! Asuka! Look at your map. They're moving in groups of four it looks like, scattering about in the forest! It looks like they're going to try and flank us if we get up there!" Suddenly something bit into his shoulder with a hiss. It left a blue residue on his right wing. Blue dots were moving everywhere on his map, and it looked as if they could be fired upon from any direction.
"Screw it Asuka! Break apart from me and we'll try and figure this out on our own."
"Fine." She replied, falling away from Shinji's side and bolting off towards the forest outskirts. Shinji raised his AT field and ducked behind a hillside. Volleys of shots sailed overhead, pinging off of his AT field once or twice. The individual rounds or whatever it was being thrown at them looked like pure white balls of light surrounded by a swirling blue smoke or cloud. They weren't very effective alone, but three to four simultaneous shots would at times affect the integrity of his fields as much as twenty percent.
"Asuka! How are you doing on your side of things?" Shinji shouted over the Comm.
"Same as you! Dug in one position, under heavy fire. What's this crap they're throwing at us?"
"How the hell should I know? I can't even see them!" Shinji shouted back. Extending his arms above his head so that they were the only things peaking over the hill, Unit-01 laid down three strafes of blind fire so as to partially minimize fire for a second. Shinji crept up over the edge for a second, and was shocked by a sight he almost missed. A group of eight was moving out of the forest, the very figures that Shinji had seen tearing down an entire city in his dream.
'Shit!' He thought franticly, ducking back behind the hill as they charged up another shot for him.
"Asuka! I've had a visual of the angels! Take a look!"
"I can't! I'm getting it really heavy over here, and they'll take my head off if I look up!"
"Shit! Okay then. I'll search the optical memory and find a shot of them, be ready to receive the data!" Due to a new upgrade, the Eva's were given the capability of transmitting what they were picking up visually to one another. It was a very helpful tool when it came to identifying an enemy or figuring out which way they were going to move. Shinji manually searched the visual memory from within the last two minutes and found a clear shot.
"Okay Asuka, I'm sending it now! Be prepared to receive the connection. A small red blinking light in the corner of his eye signaled that information was being sent. A few seconds went by before there was a reply.
"…Okay Shinji, I got it. They almost look like humans! It looks like the firing instruments are on their arms, because below the elbow their arms seem to get much bigger and bulkier, and it looks like the shots are coming from their hands. Lay down some distracting fire over here! In the forest just after the second clearing so that I can pop up and get a good shot at them!"
"Will do!" Shinji replied. Releasing the lock next to the trigger of his rifle, the spent magazine crashed to the ground leaving a small crater. It was about the size of a flatbed semi truck. Shinji jammed another magazine into the chamber and cocked his gun. Jumping up from the ground Unit-01 stood completely erect. Now shots seemed to come at him from everywhere, and his AT field integrity percentage would jump around chaotically. His Eva rattled as it took the brunt of continuous shots. Unit-01 took the butt of it's rifle and dug it into it's shoulder. Bringing the sites up to it's face, Unit-01 squeezed the trigger. A steady stream of yellow tracers spat from the barrel of the gun like lightning, filling the surrounding air with a stiff and steady deafening roar. A hail of bullets ripped into the forest directly in front of Asuka's position. The blue shots ceased as leaves, twigs and branches fluttered up from the canopy.
"Hurry up Asuka!" Shinji shouted over the Comm. as his magazine neared closer and closer to emptiness and his AT field fell to a dangerous 15 integrity.
"Right!" He fixed his gaze on the group in the middle of the clearing and they fell under a rain of bullets. Dust swirled up around them, and they went invisible for a second. Shinji and Asuka stood and watched, when another hail of blue shot from the cloud of dust.
"Shit! That didn't kill them?" Shinji screamed.
"Actually it almost did! They have AT fields, but their just barely strong enough to withstand out bullets!"
"Well I've got one thing they probably can't withstand!" Shinji shouted.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"150,000+ Tons! That's what I'm talking about!" Shinji exclaimed excitedly with a hint of mischievousness. "Hold on! Keep your position, I'm going to try something." With that said Unit-01 made a leap of about three hundred feet over the hill and out into the open. He took two bounding steps for stability's sake before making another mighty leap. The Eva rose into the air gracefully with arms extended and knees to its chest. At the peak of its rise Unit-01 fully extended its legs and crashed down upon the earth, using them as springs to absorb the impact. The group of angels for the most part disappeared under Shinji's feet.
"Works like a charm." Shinji muttered over the Comm. Link. It was at that moment that an almost euphoric rage passed over him. He didn't feel embittered, just violent. Things seemed to slow down for a few seconds, and the blue bolts of energy from remaining hidden angels hailed against his AT field. The world seemed to slow down, and things moved in blurs. Once again he was not looking through his own eyes, but that of Unit-01's, those of the eyes of Vengeance. All was sluggish and blurred, but he moved at the same speed as always. It was as if time had slowed down for the team of Eva and pilot, and everything had taken on a color tone of Sepia. One particular bolt caught Shinji's attention as it slammed into his AT field. The sound of Angles attacks against him was a deep ominous thunder in his ears, and it seemed that sound had almost slowed down for him as well. The bolt came from a lone angel standing out in the middle of the field. Just one, that had obviously survived. In a drug like trance, Shinji smiled and half-heartedly laughed. He kicked back his leg, and used the other to land a square kick into the angel. Pinging off of his enormous metal foot, the angel arched gracefully over the hill and into the distance. Shinji did not see where it had landed.
"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiinjiiiii…" He heard somebody call. He paid it no attention, and then his AT fields integrity dropped to zero. He turned towards both thickets of the forest, and saw blue shots rising from it's canopy at him slowly. In this sluggish world, where everything seemed to be in slow motion, Shinji moved up his hands. Using these giant metal paws he swatted each aggressive blue ball of energy from the air without effort. They would bounce off of his palms, and simply dissipate. When they would not stop coming, Shinji started to get angry.
"What the hell? She watched as Shinji stood there in plain sight, a sitting target. Volley after volley of attacks came from the angels, some at a rate of four or five at a time. She watched in awe as Shinji simply batted each one away with his hands without even employing his AT field.
"Asuka! How in the hell is he doing that?" It was Misato on the Comm. Link established with Central Command. "Asuka, have you tried getting through to him?"
"Yah! I have! But I don't know what the hell he's doing! All I here are grunts, he won't even resond!"
"I've got a visual from a surveillance plane about three thousand feet above you, and it looks to me like Shinji's just swatting them away! One of those shots is worth at least 15 AT field integrity! How the hell is he doing it?"
"How should I know! I'm not in there with him!" She waited for a response, but only heard a cackle over the radio. "Misato? Misato! Shit!" She rubbed her temples, not knowing what to do. "Shinji! I've lost contact with Misato! What about you?" No response, only a cackle. "Shinji? Shinji!" No response.
She attempted to rise, only to meet with a face full of enemy fire.
"Shit!" She screamed. "I can't even get out there! What in the hell is that kid doing!" Something caught her attention. A strange hum began to build up over both channels of her Comm. System. The static grew worse, and a rattling vibration found itself reverberating through her Eva. "Shinji?" She probed over the radio, knowing that he wouldn't answer. "Answer me godamnit!" Nothing. Then the sound of a lightning strike greeted her ears. She peaked her head just over the hill to see Shinji in some kind of defensive position. Shots rang off of his armor, and she watched out of curiosity. Both metal palms were cupped over one another, and the Eva was half doubled over while holding them out behind it. Unit-01 thrust its arms forward and wrenched it's hands apart. Holding them above, a few arcs of white lightning danced over its head between the two palms. The strikes grew in rapid succession, until a wiry arc of white energy flowed over his head.
"What?" she said just as the Eva thrust it's hands forward one more time. The electric white light turned from an arch overhead to a blaze pointed at the forest. As if it were hit by the heat waves of an atomic bomb, every branch on every tree instantly burnt away, incinerated. The tree's were thrown back, hundreds of thick trunked mighty oaks, some that stood one-hundred feet tall were plucked from the ground like hairs and dissolved in the air within seconds. Entire hillsides were blown completely away. The light was blinding to Asuka to the point that she could no longer see. The ground shook with a frantic turbulence that caused her to fall over, Eva face planting into the dirt. When the ground stopped rocking and her eyesight returned, Asuka stood to face a barren sight. A steady cone that expanded until it was two miles in width spread out mapped the destruction. Not a single blue dot was present on her Map, all of the angels had been decimated, along with Two and a half square miles of the forest. There was no tree nor stump, not a single bush to be seen. Even the topsoil was charred to a crisp, leaving the landscape deathly black, the scorched earth completely inhabitable. The ground was completely leveled out, the blast having carved through any incline or hillside in the earth, no matter how big or small.
"What the…" She was completely speechless, in awe of what had just happened. Unit-01 stood there, erect against the leveled and blackened forest. Motionless it stood there, until Asuka heard Shinji's voice signal her over the Comm. Link.
"Come on Asuka… Let's go home…" Shinji's voice was filled with despair, completely flat and void of any positive notion. Unable to utter a word, she followed Shinji back to the base. It was said that Eva's themselves were incapable of showing any sort of emotion despite Unit-01's several outbursts, but Shinji and his Eva seemed to trudge along, as if weighed down by some sort of guilt.
"What the hell is going on!" Ritsuko screamed.
"Dr. Akagi! Unit-01's synch ratio just skyrocketed to 200!"
"What are you talking about? That's not even possible! Run a system error check!"
"We've already checked the system for errors, no diagnosis was made!" Central Command was in a flurry. Ritsuko tried to re-establish a Comm. Link with Shinji's unit.
"Shinji what the hells going on! Are you okay!" There was no answer from Shinji.
"Dr. Akagi! The integrity of Unit-01's AT field has dropped to zero, but AT readouts measured around the general area of the unit are steadily rising! We've measured AT levels on the map in accordance to Unit-01's position and posture, and conclude that it's centering around the Eva's hands!"
'What is going on out there?' Ritsuko thought. As if things weren't bad enough, a tremor coarsed through Central Command.
"Aoba! Identify that tremor ASAP!" Dr. Akagi demanded. After a few minutes of Ritsuko barking orders and demanding answers, Aoba had an answer.
"Dr. Akagi! I've identified the vibration! I don't believe that it's the result of seismic activity, but all of the seismographs within the immediate area are showing the vibration to be coming from the point of Unit-01!" The screen displaying both Eva's visual feeds filled with static until it was unreadable.
"Maya! Switch screen two onto the closest city surveillance camera and see if you can focus it on Unit-01!"
"Right!" Both of the static filled screens switched over to a surveillance camera mounted on a stationary tower just out of the city limits. Unit-01 could be seen about four hundred yards away. It was facing the forest, taking heavy fire.
'Why is he just standing there?' Ritsuko worried.
"Ma'am! Synch rates are still at 200" She bit her lip.
'What in the hell is going on in that plug?' Watching through the camera all wondered what was wrong with Unit-01, and then they saw movement. Unit-01 thrust both of its arms forward. At that moment, the screens feeding a 3rd person visual of Unit-01 filled Central Command with a white light so blinding that everybody in the room had to shield their eyes. Ritsuko squinted, using her hand as a visor to shield from some of the light. A white-hot blaze was being issued forth from Unit-01's outstretched palms, flaring out into a menacing cone. Whatever it engulfed could not be seen, and then as quickly as it had happened it was over. The blaze faded away, and a wasteland was revealed. Charred and black, nothing remained, not a stump, not a carcass. Central Command was completely silent, until a response from Shinji rattled through the surrounding speakers.
"Awaiting confirmation of the destruction of the target." Shinji awaited the order to come back.
"Destruction of target confirmed, you guys can come home now…"
"This is Pilot Three of Unit-01, reporting back to HQ." Shinji's voice was void of luster, almost dead.
"Pilot Two of Unit-02, reporting back to HQ." Asuka piped in over the radio, sounding at least somewhat happy to be heading home. Misato, who'd been standing by Ritsuko's side, grabbed her by the shoulder.
"I don't know what happened out there either Ritsuko, but the kid doesn't sound all too good. We should at least greet them on the way in." Ritsuko turned to eye Misato.
"I would Misato, but I really need to get out there with a Science Crew and collect some samples so that just maybe we can get some concrete answers, because they might not be straight of their coming from Shinji."
"Can't you have a little more faith in him than that?" Misato fumed.
"Of course I have faith in him… But I can't base something this important on the human factor. I'll be back shortly…" Ritsuko replied with an air of regret.
"Fine…" Misato began her walk back to the docking area. The two friends parted ways. It seemed that every time their backs were turned to one another, it was due to an indifference between the two. As somber as it was, by now it was a common mishap and a way of life.
"Shinji… How did you do that?" The Eva's walked on in silence back to the city across an open plain. The sun setting behind their backs, the orange light glinted off of skyscraper windows and abandoned cars in the streets, shimmering in their eyes. In a classic portrayal of a common image to grace hero's, the two metal humanoid warriors walked on, the sun casting long shadows in front of them valiantly.
"Honestly Asuka… I don't know…" Shinji sighed. They continued on in silence, and it remained so until both were back in the docking bay. The plugs ejected, and the pilots climbed down onto the catwalk. Asuka, more energetic demanded something to eat no sooner than her foot had touched down on the platform. It wasn't that she didn't care, but Asuka at times was blissfully unaware of other people's feelings, body language and expressions.
"See ya later Shinji." She added on the way to the locker room to change out of her plug suit. Shinji on the other hand sauntered off with his shoulders hung low, gaze fixated on every fourth crack in the floor tile as he walked along. Misato appeared in the elevator at the bottom when the doors opened. At a brisk walk she hurried to meet up with Shinji.
"Hey, Shinji… I—"
"Just leave me alone…" He cut Misato off, ignoring her and walking directly past her.
"But I… Hmmm…" She sighed to herself with a closed mouth and somber eyes. She knew Shinji, and that at times like this it was highly unlikely for him to talk to her.
'Those dreams… All those things I was told… True?' He thought to himself. He hadn't even bothered to change out of his plug suit, and now roamed the hallways, looking for the elevator up to the Living Quarters Wing that resided in one of the upper floors of HQ. 'Is this the beginning? Or just a cruel joke? Will hundreds of thousands of those bastards really descend upon earth? Was Edgar a real person, with a real truth? I just don't know… Maybe I am capable of such bloodshed, shedding it as a team with Eva Unit-01… With Vengeance… But do we have to share this cruel fate?' A girls dainty feet in open toed sandals that stood in his way broke his thoughts. The feminine shoes covered the foot in many white strings, intertwining and continuing on, wrapping around the circumference of the calves and halfway up the legs. His uninterested gaze continued up the length of the obstructers snowy white legs, silky thighs disappearing under a white skirt. A pencil thin petite waist adorning a white tanktop, and up to a pair of frail shoulders adorning a black duster. His eyes widened some as he realized that he was gazing into the eyes of Rei Ayanami.
"Oh! Uh, Rei!" He stuttered. Here he was, about to mutter something rude to whomever it was standing in his way in the middle of a hallway, to find it was the one person that he could never bring himself to even think a cross word towards.
"Hello Shinji." She said, dainty voice temporarily blowing his troubles away like a soothing winter's breeze. She noticed the way he continued to simply stare her up and down. "Is something wrong Shinji?" She questioned, puzzled at his reaction.
"Oh… It's nothing… It's just that, I haven't ever really seen you wearing anything other than a school uniform. Her eyes grew lightly troubled.
"Do you not like it?" She asked, lacing her fingers together as she placed her hands behind her back. "I would wear my school uniform but Asuka yells at me everytime I wear it out of school. She says that it is too drab."
"Oh, no! That's not it… It's just that, well… Actually, it looks very nice on you Rei." In fact he truly thought it did. She had the hood on her black duster up, reminding him of a red hooded fable character from when he was a child. Her usual innocence and sullen eyes only insinuated the cuteness of the character. Below the white tanktop her delicate stomach could be seen partially, timid belly button marking the center of her stomach. The short skirt and sandals extenuated her slender snowy legs, the overall white in her outfit complimenting the tone of her skin.
"Were you on your way to the elevator?" She piped between his thoughts.
"Oh, uh… Yeah." Shinji's previous sorrow for some reason began to flow back into him.
"Perhaps you'd like some company? Commander Ikari has given me the rest of the day off. He said my cooperation was no longer needed, and the rest of the day was mine to spare."
"Sure… That would be nice…" Shinji replied, some of his melancholy breaking away once again. Rei took his arm, and they headed for the Elevator. He entered the number of the floor they wanted, and in a hyperbole gesture he motioned her in like a doorman.
"After you, madam." He painted on a smile, acting light hearted and happy hoping that she wouldn't ask about the battle too much, or why he looked so glum. She flashed a smile, playing along and stepping into the elevator. They both took a handrail, knowing full well that NERV's service elevators were notorious for jerky and bumpy rides at times. Rei looked about, humming silently to herself. This went on a few minutes before she noticed Shinji, who said nothing and stared at the ground. Still fully adorned in his plug suit, in her mind struck the image of an emotionally pained soldier she had seen in a movie once very very long ago. The way he slumped against the wall with his arms crossed and sullen gaze fixed upon the ground, fully uniformed and almost a mirror image of that fictional character from so long ago.
"Shinji, what ails you?" Rei asked, a hint of worry surfacing in her voice. Shinji sighed, and looked up to meet her gaze with his full of pain and woe. He seemed distant, detached and grim. Without much warning he sauntered over to her side of the elevator and embraced her in a hug, squeezing his arms around her waist. He didn't quite tell her what ailed him, but she could certainly feel something of it. This young soldier it seemed, was growing tired of filling his closet with skeletons.
"Dr. Akagi, it's no use. There's nothing left here but scorched earth and death." One of the scientists said that was tasked with helping to find the remains of any angels.
"At any rate… I want you to comb this place thoroughly The chances are slim, but there's always the chance that there's something to miss." Multiple scientists in radiation proof biohazard suits had combed the area with Geiger Counters and other instruments. The okay to roam the area freely had been given, signaling that no radioactive material or strong poisons had been found. Ritsuko shuffled about in the ashes, the crisp black ground buckling and crunching under her shoes.
'What in the world happened here? Eva's aren't even designed to do anything like this.' Ritsuko lost in thought wandered from site to site, not finding anything.
"Hey! We found someone or something! Get a medivac team over here!"
'What? Somebody that actually survived this blast!' Ritsuko hurried over to the area that every other scientist was gathering around. She broke through the circle and gasped. There among all of these strange people in white coats, a figure rose from the ashes. Completely unclothed, his body was entirely black with ash and soot. The figure seemed to not be much taller than Shinji, but a few bulging muscles here and there along with a clearly sculpted figure indicated that the creature was well built.
"Check it's blood type." Ritsuko ordered. One of the orderlies jabbed a needle into it's arm and withdrew some blood. The figure grunted when they did this. Then one of the scientists emptied the vile into a clear tube filled with green liquid. A chemical reaction caused the mixture to turn a deep crimson.
"It's blood type isn't blue, I think we've got a human on our hands ma'am."
"Well then hurry up!" She ordered. The male figure coughed violently. "Get this guy into an ERMV!" He was a shady guy. Ritsuko noticed that the figure was currently staring at her. She knew not why she said it, for he most likely couldn't speak, but asked it anyway.
"Excuse me sir? Can you tell me your name?" He simply continued to stare at her. 'Figures, I guess he can't speak just as of yet.' She thought. The orderlies came up and helped to hoist him up onto a stretcher, his partially limp body providing gruff resistance. As they carried him off to the ambulance, which was parked near by, he turned his head and looked into her eyes.
"My name… Is Ed." Was all that she heard before they loaded him into the vehicle.
"Okay! You all continue your operations! Maya will be taking over now. If you have any questions or findings, bring them to her!" Ritsuko watched the ambulance drive off with her newfound friend.
"You can count on me ma'am" Maya said, assuring her that things would be all right.
"I know Maya… I know." Ritsuko said. She climbed into a NERV SUV and ordered the driver to follow the van to the medical station. 'Ed… Huh… Not a very interesting name.' There was no way that Ed could have survived such a blast in her mind, yet he did; and with how black his body was it almost looked to Ritsuko as if he were born from the ashes themselves.
