Tacking Starboard
Chapter 05
Despite the relatively early warning, the Evangelion pilots arrived too late to adequately mount a defense on the surface. Originally, they were positioned around Nerv HQ proper. Once the thunderous reports of the crucifixial blasts finished shaking the very foundation of the Earth, the command centre relayed the expected entry point of angel ten. Three fully functioning Evangelions stood a comfortable distance in a tripoint formation, eye modules fixed on the hole in the sky. Three desperate yet determined pilots were in position to risk everything to save humanity. Three children, brimming with anxiety and personal issues trivial in comparison to their current task, stood against what would later be called Zeruel – the arm of God and the angel of strength.
The angel crossed the threshold of the upper earth and into the cavern. Asuka, positioned centrally, was the first to open fire. A modified tactical ballistic missile soared to the target and exploded. Within the next five seconds, another arrived, though once the explosion from the smoke cleared, command observed that it was stopped by the AT field. She had a dozen or so single-use launchers beside her on a sked she had dragged there. Each had various payloads ranging from high explosive, to incendiary, to low-yield nuclear. Surely one of them could get through. Right?
Asuka's assault was joined very shortly by 460mm positron rifle fire from Rei to the left and conventional 209mm assault rifle shelling from Shinji at the right. All observation stations reported the effect on target as accurate and insufficient. There was no visible effect on the angel.
Its opponents clearly unable to pierce the veil of its AT field, the angel continued its hellish march.
01x02
His knuckles were growing pale. "What do you mean I can't go?" he said.
"I'm sorry, but the ceremony is for close family members and Nerv personnel only," she said. She stood as officially as she could, but the sympathy could be easily seen on her face.
"Toji, please," Hikari put a hand gently on his shoulder, "we can go to the shrine afterwards and pay our respects then."
He shook her off, she drew her hands to her chest. "That's not good enough! I'm probably closer to him than his family is anyways!"
Misato sighed. "That isn't how it works Toji, I'm sorry." She shifted uncomfortably before continuing. "I'll see what I can do but I am not promising you anything."
Toji huffed for a few more moments before half-slumping, half-bowing. "It can't be helped. Please do your best Ms. Misato."
"I will."
She didn't.
01x02
Shinji didn't feel real. Like at any moment he would wake up as if from a bad dream and he'd be laying in his bed at home, staring at his ceiling with earbuds in. Or maybe he'd be in the hospital again with the hum of fluorescent bulbs attempting to lull him.
But that moment would never come. Instead, he sat and stared straight ahead. Eulogies were supposed to be lovely poetic pieces but there wasn't really much to say about someone so young. Instead, he attempted to avoid any movement that might draw extra ire from his most confusing friend seated to his left.
He could tell Asuka wasn't looking at him. It didn't matter. Her eyes may as well have been affixed right on him. They may as well have been boring holes into his very soul in that way she usually does. He could never really lie to her, but he knew he'd believe anything she said without question even if he felt it may be a lie. That made their prior conversation all the more poignant.
He couldn't believe what she told him, but he was compelled to. He must've gone over the conversation a dozen times by now, if not more. He just couldn't stop thinking about it, couldn't let go.
All it took was him continuing to press forward even though he was scared. He wasn't sure he could repeat that, but he knew he had to. He knew everything could depend on that.
01x02
"Firstly, how much do you know about me?" she said.
"What do you mean?" he said.
"I ask the questions here. How much do you know about me, from before we met?"
"Not much. Obviously, I knew your name. I knew that you piloted Unit 02. I knew you were German or at least grew up in Germany or something like that." He fidgeted with the sheets. "That's it."
"Right. So, you know quite little, as expected. Growing up for me was between Japan and Germany. But that's all the really light stuff." She shifted in her chair but never broke eye contact. "My parents. I, I spent most of my time with my father. I never really knew my mother. I knew of her, but I never got to know her deeply."
"Never really knew?"
"Yeah. That's because she died when I was four."
Shinji gasped lightly. He figured that was an appropriate response for when someone told you something tragic.
"Well, what happened?" he said.
"She killed herself. And not in that 'honourable' Japanese way or anything stupid like that. She hung herself from the ceiling fan and wanted me to join her." Her voice was remarkably cold for such a sentence. Distant, almost, like she was a million miles away.
"I, I'm so sorry Asuka, I…"
"Oh, it's fine. She didn't even see me as her daughter anyway. See, she thought I did die with her. She kept a doll with her after she went crazy and kept referring to it as her daughter whereas I was 'that other girl.'"
Just when you think you know somebody, you realise you don't know anything, ever, Shinji thought. This is as close as he'll get to understanding someone like her. By knowing her history, he might be able to learn how to deal with her pines properly. Still, he was aghast. She was even stronger than he thought. He thought he reached the last layer. He didn't realise that, too, was a front.
"How did you even manage after that?" he said.
"It was fine. I told myself I'd never cry about it again. You can see how well that's working out. You can see it doesn't bother me at all." Asuka leaned in. "So what about you? I know your dad is the leader of this organisation and all, after all that's why you are even a pilot. But what about your mom?"
"My mom. She, uh, she also died when I was four."
"Really? Interesting. What do you know about it."
Her morbid interest made him shift his position and fidget with the sheets, but he kept spilling, nonetheless.
"Unfortunately I don't know much. I don't even know what she looks like nor remember the sound of her voice," he said.
"I see. Well I am very sorry to hear that we share the same fate. Hm. Maybe there's more to it," she said. She was looking up, as if saying it to the ceiling.
"Huh?"
"Don't worry about it. I need to go take care of something. You'll still be here when I'm gone, right? You'll be okay without me?"
He looked pensive at her. "It's not like I'm going anywhere."
"Sounds good." She got up and damn near ran out of the room.
01x02
"Asuka, fall back!" came Misato's voice over the comms.
"No way, I got this," Asuka said. Airbursts deflected by an AT field echoed in the valley. Asuka was getting mad at the lack of any significant impact on this angel. Not even a single crack in its AT field despite three Evas and an accuracy-by-volume barrage.
The angel stopped its advance for a moment at a moderate range from Asuka. Its body appeared to be shifting.
"Asuka, look out!" Shinji's voice this time. He sounded desperate.
As her attention was brought back to the angel, her eye caught a glint of sheen. Instinctively, she attempted a dodge. Pain flared on her left forearm as a chunk of her Eva's arm was sliced clean out. Asuka merely hissed at the pain. It was but a flesh wound.
Asuka watched the ribbon methodically shrink to its prior size. Without batting an eye (not that it had any), the angel continued as if she were never there. The entire time it was still shrugging off the arsenal thrown at it.
"You're going to need a change of plans, Asuka," Asuka said.
"Are you alright, Asuka?" Shinji said.
Asuka turned and saw him, or rather, that purple armor and the horn were simply unmistakable.
01x02
"Couldn't you guys have done something!" It seemed like these days Toji is now consumed by anger where he was previously aloof.
"We did all we could!" Despite his larger stature, Asuka wasn't afraid to be in his face.
"I don't believe you. What's the point of piloting Evangelions if you can't even save one life."
"Are you saying that I let him die because I'm not good enough! The nerve of this guy. Go on, Shinji, tell him. You saw how hard I tried, tell him." She was nudging him with her elbow.
Shinji didn't wind up saying much of anything. He just stood there, avoiding eye contact and stammering out a vocalised pause or two with no real phrases said. Toji had enough of this. He lost one friend and was more than willing to give up another that wasn't doing anything for him. It was selfish, in a way, but so was Shinji. Toji needed to be alone. Eventlessly, he departed.
"Jeez Shinji, what's your problem? How useless is a man that can't even talk," Asuka said.
Shinji just shrugged. He had nothing to soy. Nothing good, at least.
01x02
Asuka and Shinji were taking turns making poke attacks against the angel. With two evangelions in close proximity, its AT field seemed much weaker. Still, it looked like even the stray shot or two that managed to squeeze its way through hardly made a scratch on the angel's carapace. Rei was nowhere to be found.
"Where is she? I thought we were a team," Asuka said. She really has been trying to drop her ego as of late but truly she just wants Rei to make another opening for her like against Sahaquiel. She wants to make the finishing blow, even if it involves the help of others.
'I don't know, and I haven't heard anything over the comms," Shinji said.
A few more attacks. Asuka would pop up and fire a few shots and then immediately dodge before an attack even came. Shinji took that opportunity to attack and then dodge in the same manner. This repeated with a few close calls and lost armor pieces. Unit 02 was missing a half shoulder pylon. Unit 01 lost its gauntlets and knee and elbow guards.
It was a miracle they didn't suffer more grave injuries though there was definitely a share of supply runs and power cable replacements.
All their efforts amounted to twenty minutes of additional time where this angel didn't beeline for its goal. It seemed readily distracted. If Angels could be afflicted by ADHD, of course it would manifest like this.
It was then that Unit 00 finally appeared. Armed with a Smash Hawk and a cylinder just a bit larger than the Eva's hand.
"The hell does she think she's doing?" Asuka spoke.
Rei wasn't connected to the comm link and was refusing hails. "I don't know," Shinji said, "but I don't feel good about this."
01x02
"Suzuhara," a gentle voice from behind met Toji's ears.
His eyes were closed and he was leaning back on his desk chair, rocking slightly. He knew it wasn't Hikari. He opened his eyes to see Rei standing over him. He closed his eyes.
"Whaddya want?" he said.
"I want to talk about the last angel fight. About Kensuke," she said.
The front chair legs slamming the floor echoed in the room.
"What exactly about it," Toji said.
Rei appeared entirely undeterred.
"I get the feeling you are incredibly upset about Kensuke. This is understandable, of course. I merely want to express that everything possible was done to save his life. My fellow pilots, in particular, are only so able to affect mission parameters," she said.
"What's the point of all this technology and manpower if we can't even save one life?" he said. His arms were crossed.
"Everyone is quite upset at such a failure, believe me. I wish we could do more but fate has not deemed it possible. I am deeply sorry. His loss makes me feel all sorts of terrible, as well."
"Is that how you cope with loss? Just give up and say it's all because of fate? How meaningless."
"I'm sorry you feel that way. You have the power to face life and its circumstances how you wish. I suggest you avoid facing it with such overabundant expectations."
With that, she left the room, leaving a stunned Toji wondering who the hell Ayanami thought she was.
"Overabundant expectations. Whatever, professor. You hardly even spoke to anyone a couple weeks ago."
01x02
Unit 00's armor glinted as it ran. Jump, mantle, dodge left, duck, Rei's movements in the cockpit were matched by the behemoth. She made her way across the terrain, dodging the ribbonous strikes of the angel as she drew ever closer. The Angel appeared to be backing away from her.
Asuka and Shinji watched from the other side of the battlefield. They still weren't exactly sure what she was up to, but ideas about the cylinder she was holding began to hatch.
"Do you think we can do it?" Asuka said.
"We have to try," Shinji said.
With a mutual nod they set off to take position around it in a vee formation.
Unit 00 didn't seem to take notice of the other Evas as it continued its advance, dodging its way past the ribbons. Asuka even saw it take a swing at one of the ribbons with the hawk. It did actually chunk a bit of the ribbon, but its function seemed unhindered.
When it got close enough, Units 01 and 02 opened fire at the sides of the angel. The area around the angel lit up as its defensive field blocked yet more attempts to attack it.
Unit 00 lept and went for a downward swipe with the hawk. At the last moment, a ribbon shot out low. The unit appeared to try and tuck its legs in. It wasn't successful. Two legs, shin and below, flitted away from their former affix. Yet the swipe still struck. It wasn't much, but a sliver of the Angel's AT field was cut open. Through it, the Unit attempted to shove the cylinder. It resisted insertion, but eventually it started making its way through. As it did, one more final ribbon assailed the Unit. It struck the Evangelion in the torso, tearing it in twain. Blood sprayed against the rest of the AT Field and the Geofront field as Unit 00 fell to the ground, lifeless. But she succeeded, the N2 mine was past the barrier.
The last thing Rei, Asuka, or Shinji saw in that moment was the angel buttoning down what could be reasonably presumed as the angel's vulnerable areas–its face and the bright red sphere on its chest.
Shinji and Asuka saw white. Rei saw black.
01x02
"Rei!"
Gendo's voice boomed through the command centre. He was stood from his seat, his poise broken. It gave everyone around a moment of pause to consider this otherwise calm, cold man's outburst before their stations' responsibilities recalled their attention.
He took a moment to collect himself and adjust his glasses. "Status of Unit 00's pilot?" he said.
"We're not receiving any signals from the plug, Commander. The sensors, cameras, and communications arrays are still recalibrating following that explosion," said Lt. Hyuga.
"Relay the information to me as soon as it's available."
"Affirmative Commander."
"How are my other two pilots?" said Misato.
"The last snapshot we have had them unscathed. Standby for updates," said Hyuga.
As the cameras began coming back online, the bridge bore witness to the resultant destruction of the N2 mine. Two Evangelions, unscathed. The enemy angel also appeared relatively unscathed save a couple of superficial scorch marks. The third Eva, split in half and armor charred. The ground surrounding it was torched and marked in sunder scars.
"Two Units unscathed, ma'am. Third unit inoperable. Still waiting for connection to the entry plug," said Hyuga.
"This doesn't look good," said Misato.
01x02
Seemingly satisfied with the destruction of one out of three of its major threats, the angel pulled an about-face and started advancing towards its goal once more.
Opposing it, purple and red units, damaged and fatigued from battle, tired but not out.
"For Rei," Shinji said.
Asuka simply nodded her head down.
The two units kept a similar tactic to before. Hit and run strikes meant to distract the angel long enough to slip a shot through. Any shot would be progress against such a seemingly impenetrable AT field. They did a decent job at keeping power connected, but the stretch and damage of the cables kept them from delivering their full effective voltage in racing mode. This caused the batteries to slowly deplete over time. To make matters worse, an errant strike cut Shinji's cable clean starting his countdown at one minute. Asuka still had one minute and thirty seconds. She would only lose another second every thirty seconds or so. But with Unit 01's cable cut, it was basically do or die.
Through whips and scorns of ribbons sharp enough to possibly split atoms, the two units danced. With minimal effect on target, even when they got through the AT field, they struck. With dwindling reserves of strength, of will, of power, they fought.
Unit 01 slumped. Unit 02 erred in awe. Unit 02's arm cascaded with blood as the remnants of its arm careened through the sky as did its power cable, too. Unit 02 fell with some level of squirming, its pilot too distracted by such pain to be combat effective.
The pilots of the units appeared as mirror images to the plug camera, yanking and slamming the controls in an effort to make victory happen.
The angel was free to continue towards its objective. Continue, it did.
01x02
Steel chairs are uncomfortable. Asuka wondered if they could've done better than this.
She was never one for funerals. It's not like she hated them, particularly. They just did nothing for her. Why should she care about someone who died? They were either not strong enough to keep living or had lived enough of a life that they were ready to go. People live, people die. She already locked up any feelings she'd ever have long ago.
The speaker's voice filled her ears with a droning, like the adult of an old kid's cartoon.
She still felt something, though. She was trying to understand exactly what she was feeling, but she hardly understood herself as is. The answer she came up with was that she was disappointed in herself that she couldn't be the full hero. She defeated the angel, and for that she was proud, but this kid died under her blows. She wanted the lavish praise that a full victory would've offered. Anything less is a failure in her mind. She was trying to reconcile with the fact that she had lost control. She could still feel the crushing of metal composite and bone beneath her fists. She remembers well the fear of death, or worse, failure. She has felt that so many times already. She always felt like the worst. She always showed her best side and covered any flaws. If they knew what a fraud she was, they'd throw her right out. If she didn't show her value, prove her value, she would be discarded like that stupid doll.
At least she's still here. She still has a chance. She sighed.
01x02
The two children ceased being mirrors. Shinji had given up and was slumped in his seat. Asuka was still yanking at the controls, though weakly at this point.
The command bridge was silent. Everyone felt failure was imminent, though they were oddly calm. Thoughts ranged from "damn, I wanted to finish that chapter tonight," to simply, "well, I guess this is it."
The lactic acid burning her muscles, even Asuka was slowing her desperation to a stop. It was then that a beat reverberated through the entry plug. Then another. A heartbeat. Asuka wondered since when did Evangelion's have functioning hearts? All of the movement was through electrical nerve stimulation of synthetic muscle groups, far as she knew. A scent wafted through the LCL. It reminded Asuka of the hospital. She hated hospitals.
A similar event was happening to Shinji. He spoke a single word.
"Mother?"
The angel stopped moving. Simultaneously, two evangelions stood up, shuddering as synthetic tissue moved to life under a different source. Two evangelions simultaneously roared. Two evangelions charged the angel's back.
For a moment, all that was visible from the command bridge was a flash of light as three behemoths clashed. Two raging beasts against one, the angel stood no chance. Once more, the command bridge observed horror. Once more their life's work, the supposed saviour of humanity was reduced to a snarling beast. The angel's anatomy wasn't exactly known, but the cracking of bones, sloshing of guts, and ripping of tissue and sinew was unmistakable as it sounded through the speakers.
Just like that, the angel of strength was lifeless, reduced to fodder for evangelions. Unit 01 bellowed and flexed its arms out wide. With that, the shoulder pylons crumbled and sloughed off.
Dr. Ritsuko broke the silence on the bridge. "The restraints…"
"Restraints?" Misato said.
"Yes. Those pylons weren't just mounting rails. They were bindings that held Eva's true power at bay."
"Just what the hell have you and Nerv created?"
"A god. One that I'm not sure we can control," Ritsuko said. She never looked in Misato's direction.
Misato didn't think she was going to get any more out of her just yet. She wondered just what the hell Ritsuko meant by a god. The last piece of information she got from Kaji told her that Adam was in the basement, though he said that might not be correct because of the Adam embryo. Just what were Evangelions, she wondered. Just what has humanity gotten itself into. How deep does the hole go. None of these questions would be answered today, but still they would linger.
Higher up the bridge, the commander and sub-commander observed the situation, expressionless.
"Two awakened evangelions. The old men are going to have a conniption over this," said Fuyutsuki, "Don't you think this is way too far from even our script?"
Gendo, of course, sat with his hands tented.
"The old men are already trying to fill their hand. It's about time we filled ours. I earnestly didn't expect both Units to awaken, but I think it is nothing but good for us," Gendo said. "Even if the second child finds out the true nature of Unit 02, she'll still likely be very loyal to our cause. After all, defeat of Nerv would mean losing access to her unit," he said.
"I pray you're right, for all of our sakes. Meeting demise too far from the true end would deny paradise."
"I know."
01x02
"Two awakened evangelions!" The chamber echoed with booming disembodied voices. "We should have kept a tighter leash on Ikari, there is no way his goals align with ours anymore."
"He has been a useful tool thus far but a wrench that doesn't wrap a bolt is of no use and should be repurposed or discarded."
"We cannot act in a way that brings attention to us, however. There are grave budgetary concerns, of course, but it won't be long now until the promised time is upon us. We should continue to subtly undermine our charge until they are effectively controlled. They cannot be allowed any further freedom."
"Agreed. Though more aggression is likely warranted. If we let this get out of hand, we will lose."
"Fear not, we always win in the end."