TRUE WAR

CHAPTER 13

BY WONGA316

COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER

I don't own Neon Genesis or any of its characters. If you want to use any ideas in the fiction just drop me an email –

AUTHOR'S NOTES

This is my first attempt at a Neon Genesis fan fiction, so please be gentle. This scenario doesn't take into account the final two movies / episodes and Touji never lost his limbs during this activation test. Some of the guys may seem OC to the die-hard fans. Sorry about this but I hope my ideas will make it worthwhile. Big thank you and applause to NateGold who proofread.

"..." Normal speech

(...) Thoughts

-...- Computer / phone / other chat (you will know what I mean...)

MILITARY AIRBASE – MOBILE COMMAND

"SHINNNNNJIIIII! NOOOOOO!" Yui watched in horror as the weaponless Unit One charged wildly at Shamshel.

"ASUKA HURRY! TAKE YOUR SHOT!" Misato screamed into her microphone.

-About time!- She replied but it was too late. –Damn it! I can't get a clear shot! SHINJI! Get out of the way!-

"What's Shinji's status?" Yui demanded.

"Shinji is fine. His sync ratio is holding steady at..." Huge paused as he waited for the data to present itself. "Ninety eight point seven percent!" his voice rising in astonishment.

MILITARY AIRBASE – BATTLE FRONT

The A.T. fields of both Angel and Evangelion collided violently, their impact causing an explosive shockwave that blew away vehicles and weakened buildings. Unit one snarled and pushed harder, causing Shamshel to stumble backwards. This gave Shinji enough of an opening to allow him to grab the Angel's neck, but as he began to apply pressure Shamshel abruptly disappeared from in front of him. The sudden lack of resistance resulted in him falling forward onto the ground

"What the hell?!"

MILITARY AIRBASE – MOBILE COMMAND

"What the hell just happened? I need a lock on that Angel's position now!" Misato demanded.

"We are still detecting traces of the Angel within the vicinity. It's masking its energy signature somehow." Maya answered.

"Asuka! Shinji! The Angel has not retreated. Stay alert." Misato yelled into her microphone. "Asuka, you should have a better view from your vantage point."

-All I see is Unit One. What's going on? - She replied.

"We are looking into that right now. Shinji are you listening?" Silence followed, as Shinji didn't respond.

"Shinji?! Please say something!" Yui pleaded.

MILITARY AIRBASE – BATTLE FRONT

Shinji pulled on his yokes to balance Unit One as it tripped forward. He quickly scanned his surroundings, looking for any trace of the Angel. The voices of his mother and Misato could be heard in the background but he paid them no heed.

(You are going to pay for what you did to Touji!) "Come on... Show yourself..." he muttered under his breath. Suddenly, he felt something wrap and tighten around his throat, choking him. Shamshel had reappeared behind him, its tentacles wound tightly around the EVA's neck. He struggled frantically, somehow breaking the strangle hold and toppling backwards onto the bloody airbase ground. The jolt from the fall knocked what little air he had left in his lungs loose, leaving him coughing and gasping for oxygen. Then he felt something tighten around his chest.

MILITARY AIRBASE – MOBILE COMMAND

"DAMN IT ASUKA! SHOOT THE FUCKING THING!" Misato shouted into her microphone as the Angel, tentacles tightly wound around the EVA's torso then emulating an Olympic hammer thrower, Shamshel began spinning rapidly before sending the hapless Unit 01 through the air to crash heavily, skidding onto the tarmac.

-I can't! I'll hit him! - Somehow the left arm of Unit one snagged into the concertina wire that fenced the base around. The fence gave enough to act as a brake for unit 01, but the sharp wire and abrupt stop caused the flesh to rip and the arm to dislocate.

"Left arm severely damaged! Shinji's sync ration is beginning to drop!" Maya reported.

"Eject his plug! Get out him of there!" Yui screamed.

"Negative. Eva is not responding. All nerve connections are disengaging... My God! His S2 engine is shutting down." Aoba added.

"Come on Asuka! Shinji is in trouble. Just take the shot!" Mana could help herself. Being an Eva pilot she felt useless standing and watching everything from the mobile command.

-Don't you die on me Shinji- Asuka muttered before taking her shot. Her comment got picked up by her internal radio and was relayed to the mobile command.

MILITARY AIRBASE – BATTLE FRONT

Shinji didn't know if wanted the spinning to stop or the burning pain coming from his left shoulder to go away. The view from the VDU was badly blurred, but he could tell that he was lying on the ground. His radio soon came back on line and he could just make the voices of Misato and his mother, desperately trying to find a way to keep the situation from completely spinning out of control.

(Nice job, hotshot... You let the Angel kill your friend and leave his unborn child fatherless. You've emotionally destroyed both your mother and Misato. Why don't you just curl up and die right now!)

He watched the Angel approach with a strange feeling of calmness, the pain in his shoulder and the nausea receding into the far corners of his mind as he braced himself for the final blow. It never came, as an explosion rocked both Angel and EVA.

MILITARY AIRBASE OUTSKIRTS

"He's mine, you bastard! Back off!" Asuka snarled as her shot took the Angel by surprise and blasted into the middle of its back. She cocked her rifle and prepared to fire off another round.

-Good shot Asuka! You got its attention that time! Keep it busy while rescue teams get Touji and Shinji. - Misato voice rang through her plug, clear and concise.

"No problem. How are they? They haven't been responding on their comms." While the battle was raging on Asuka had attempted to set up a secure line to Shinji in an effort to reach him.

-Just keep it distracted. Good luck Asuka- Misato avoided her question regarding Shinji.

"That's not an answer Misato! How is he?!" She demanded this time.

-We don't know... I'll let you know as soon as we find out. - Misato voice didn't seem very confident of Shinji's wellbeing.

MILITARY AIRBASE – MOBILE COMMAND

"Has there been any change in Unit One or Four?" Misato asked after cutting off communications with Asuka.

"Life support systems are back on line for Unit Four. Touji has a possible fractured or broken sternum from the attack. He's currently unconscious. Nothing life threatening." Hyuga replied.

"And Shinji?" Mana asked.

"Unit one is still off line..." Aoba answered. He saw the disappointed look on Mana's face and followed up. "But that doesn't mean anything."

"Aoba is right. Shinji went into his Eva without a plug suit and therefore we are unable to determine his vital signs properly." Maya added, trying to sound positive.

"I hope you are right..."

"Where did the Vice Commander go?" Misato asked.

"She rushed out as soon as you mention the rescue teams were to be scrambled."

"Fair enough... With the way she has been reacting lately, I wouldn't want to stop her. Best leave her be." Unseen by the others, a small scowl passed over her face. (She can't keep letting her concern for Shinji interfere with her duties. I think I'd better have a little talk with her later...in private.) "Do we know how that thing is able to disappear?" Ritsuko appeared on one of the smaller monitor.

-I've been monitoring the situation from headquarters and couldn't help overhearing your question. I'm currently running the data through the Magi.-

"Ritsuko! Great timing. What do they say?"

-They actually haven't completed the simulations but in another...- she replied sleepily.

"Then what's the point of saying anything in the first place!" Misato was obviously upset. "We have a serious situation here, Ritsu! This is no time for your mind games!"

-If you would have let me finish talking I would have said that another ninety seconds is all I required! - The blond doctor chose to bite back at the Major. She calmed herself before continuing. -Kensuke is uploading the data right now. - Moments later the command consoles lit up with volumes of information

"I'm in a little bit of a hurry Ritsuko, so could you just give me the short version?" Misato asked. Then Kensuke's face appeared in a smaller window on Ritsuko's monitor.

-Basically the Angel is able to move at very high speeds thus giving the illusion that it disappears. I've also included in the data package a wide angle shot slowed down frame by frame which shows this.-

"If that's fast how is Asuka going to hit it with her rifle?" Mana asked.

-There are some weaknesses with this new ability. - Kensuke continued. –In order to 'go to hyper speed' the angel has to lower it's AT field. It appears that the task requires huge amounts of energy, which weakens the Angel after use. This also explains why it can only use this ability to move short distances. -

"Ok... Asuka, did you get that? You have an opportunity after it slows down. Take your shot then."

-Yeah, yeah. Gotcha-

-One more thing Asuka. It's somehow able to regenerate its energy very quickly. The Magi estimate that you have maybe three, four seconds tops to get your shot away. After that it's able to do it again. - Kensuke advised.

-Great. Anything else I should know about?-

"Hey if you can't do it and save Shinji then let me into Unit Two and I'll show you how it's done." Mana said, annoyed by Asuka's attitude towards the situation.

-WHAT! Back off bitch! I'm saving Shinji. No one else you got that! - Asuka yelled and quickly signed off, infuriated by Mana's comment. Kensuke and Ritsuko followed suit. Misato eyed the young pilot from the corner of her eye.

(Pretty clever Mana... I wouldn't have thought of that to get Asuka fired up and focused on the task at hand... I saw the way her eyes lit up when Shinji appeared on the monitors. She has it bad...)

Mana knew that Misato was giving her that 'look' and thought it appropriate to say something.

"It's not what you think Major."

"I didn't say anything. I was just thinking that it was a good way to encourage Asuka. What did you think I was thinking?"

"You know what I mean. And I didn't say it to encourage Asuka. I was serious about her inability to save Shinji."

MILITARY AIRBASE – BATTLE FRONT

The blast from Asuka's attack didn't rouse Shinji from his torpor as he slowly succumbed to exhaustion. It was strange, seconds before the blast a mixture of adrenaline and pain surged through his body. Mostly pain. Now all he could feel was peace. He thought he was dying when the interior of his cabin lit up in a bright flash.

Asuka had her sights concentrated around Shinji and Unit One. As a result, she was slow to pick up the Angel's presence around Unit Four. The Eva still lay lifelessly on the bloodstained ground. Using one of it tentacles, Shamshel lifted it in front so its feet were off the ground. Unit Five's chests plate still protruded from Touji's side and his arm just dangled loosely by his sides.

By the time Asuka had noticed the Angel's reappearance, it was too late. She fired never the less but the Angel had enough time to regenerate it's AT field again. Her shell deflected off the hexagonal shield. Paying no attention to Asuka's feeble attacks, the Angel latched onto the protruding plate and tore it out, its removal spraying blood all over Shamshel and the surrounding area. Encouraged by the taste of Eva blood, the Angel began to shred Touji's chest plate much like it had Unit Five's. Asuka's barrage was futile, as the shots rebounded off the soul barrier of the Angel.

UNIT ONE – ENTRY PLUG

Noticing that his feet were getting wet, Shinji slowly regained consciousness. As his sight came back into focus he realized where he was. He actually didn't know the name of the place or where it was but he had been here before.

"You have got to be kidding me..." he mused as his head fell back to the ground with a thud onto the soft sand. "I must be going mad..." He stared up to the pale cloudless sky and gathered his thoughts. It then struck him.

"SHIT! TOUJI! THE ANGEL!" He quickly climbed back up to his feet.

"You should take it easy. You've been through quite an ordeal." A young voice suggested from behind. He turned around to see the same young girl with piercing red eyes, smiling at him gently.

"I have to get back! Touji needs my help. There is an Angel! I have to..." The young girl seemed to ignore his pleas and happily skipped towards him. She then took his hand and brought it up to her face slowly feeling it.

"You should be more concerned about where you are than where you want to go." Shinji ripped his hand from her grasp after her comment.

"I don't care where this is or what you do here! Just help me get back to help my friends! This is the second time I've been in Unit one and..." Shinji stopped short as he thought about what he was going to say.

"You see. It's much easier to think if you calm down and take a few mental steps back." The girl sat herself down on the pure sand next to Shinji. Still shocked by his revelation, Shinji decided it was best to sit back down. "You don't have a very good memory. The last time you came to visit me, I told you exactly where you are."

"I do... I just didn't believe it. Didn't think it was possible."

"Physically it's not. Mentally, most definitely!"

"Mentally?"

"Just think of it like when you enter Eva via the entry plug in order to synch." Shinji nodded at the girl. "This is just another way to connect to Eva."

"I think I get it but why?" he asked then thought some more. "Hang on, if I'm connected to Eva then that must mean... You are..."

"Bright boy! See, things become much clearer when you calm down."

"Just to get things straight... You're Eva." Shinji asked sounding unsure about himself. The young girl nodded.

"Unit One?"

"Didn't I just say that?"

"This is too much..." Shinji fell backwards into the sand and covered his face in disbelief. Eva remained seated on the sand looking out towards the horizon.

"I'm afraid there's more, my Shinji." Her comment got Shinji to spread his fingers, looking up at her from his prone position. "I'm not sure why this has happened the way it has and trying to give you a proper explanation would be futile."

"The past couple of days has showed that anything is possible." Eva smiled at her pilot's admission.

"After you defeated my brother, Tabris, It was supposed to end. There would be no need for Eva or the Angels as you know them. But something happened..."

"Tabris? You mean Kaoru. I didn't want to hurt him. He was my friend." The girl placed her hand on Shinji forehead telling him that it was alright.

"To put in terms that you will understand, my brothers and sisters underwent instrumentality. This next stage of life is supposed to enrich and enhance our existence but it can also corrupt. We are not very different from humans. We can be easily led astray and walk down the dark path. We have our lust for power and greed just like humans. It seems that we were not ready as we thought we were."

"If you Angels want instrumentality then why involve us? What do you have to gain from attacking?" Shinji asked.

"Like I said, we are very alike. It's in your human nature to destroy each other and it's in ours. Your past history of wars proves that. But everything in life must have a balance. Good for bad. Light for dark. In order for instrumentality to truly take place some price must be paid."

"What price? And how does that involve me?" Eva smiles sweetly at Shinji.

"I can't tell you what that is because I don't know...yet. But you will have to make a choice that will determine the fate of two species."

"That's bullshit! Why me! Why am I so special? I hate doing this. I hate being a pilot!" Eva, seeing Shinji's distress moved to comfort him. She wrapped her arms around his back and rested her head on his chest.

"Shinji... Please listen... I was born an Angel...or rather the clone of one. I didn't get a choice in that. I will never know all the wonderful things that you get to experience in life like love. I would give my life to live one day in your shoes."

"If you think my life is so wonderful then you can have it" Shinji spat. "I don't want to be savior of the world. Someone else can have it."

Eva tightens her hug around Shinji. "Life isn't a burden or a responsibility that you should avoid. It has to be cherished and protected. Not one is asking you to be something you are not. In fact no one is asking you to be anything. All they want you to be is Shinji. That's all." She looks up at him from his chest. "You were born with ability and a destiny that is truly unique. I don't know why or how. But if you spend too much time wondering why something is the way it is then you starting missing what really is important."

"Why should I believe you?" (Is she telling the truth? It just hurts so much... Doesn't she know what I've been through? Of course she does, stupid! She's linked with you, remember?)

"You don't have to believe me. You can do anything you like once you leave Eva. That's your choice. But how would you know what happiness feels like if pain never existed?" Eva read his thoughts. "You have to go back now Shinji. This may be the last time we meet. If so, I just want you know that you have made me so happy." Shinji looked down to see the tear marks of happiness down the side of her face.

"Remember... All you need to know is to be true to yourself..." These were the last words Shinji could hear as his consciousness faded away like the blood red horizon on the beach that they were sitting on. Soon the girl was on her own, staring at the same horizon.

"The true war is ahead of you my Shinji..."

MILITARY AIRBASE – MOBILE COMMAND

"Asuka keep firing! We have to get it away from Touji!" Misato screamed into her radio.

-It's not doing anything! Damn AT Field! - Asuka replied. –That's it. I'm moving in!-

"Asuka wait! In the condition that your Eva is in, you would do more damage that good." The Nerv Major reasoned.

"What about different ammunition. Try some different rounds." Suggested Mana.

(Come on think Misato... Touji's getting beaten to a pulp and your Shin-chan is in trouble. Some Major you are! It's no wonder Shinji left. You're a failure and a drunk!)

"Major... Unit one is reactivating!" Aoba reported and then switched all the monitors to show what he meant.

MILITARY AIRBASE – BATTLE FRONT

Unit one slowly picked itself back up, the debris and blood falling off as it stood up right. Gingerly it peeled the wrapped wire fence from around its left arm. It threw the giant birds' nest of wire to the side and scanned the area.

"Shit! That really hurt..." Shinji complained, as his arm was freed. His screen showed the Angel had its back to him while standing over Unit Four. Shamshel had managed to remove the plate and was now peering at the core. He quickly scanned the ground beneath him for any sort weapon when his eyes fell upon an over turned tanker filled with jet fuel. He then remembered the retractable progressive knife in his shoulder holster. The voices of a frantic mother and Major filled his plug but his mind remained focused. "ASUKA!" He shouted into his radio, not knowing if it was a private or open channel. "When you see the truck, shoot it!" he ordered.

-SHINJI?! Jesus, are you alright! Are you hurt? - Her voice carrying concern and happiness.

"Just hit the truck. Can you do that?" he asked again.

-What the hell are you talking about? - Seconds later, Shinji swept up the truck and threw it above the Angel. As it flew into Asuka's scope, she finally realized what he was going on about and fired. Her shot was a direct hit and caused a mid air explosion which gained the Angel's attention and knocked it around a bit. As the liquid fireball rained down, Shinji made his move and charged the Angel.

The Eva, left arm hanging loosely by its side covered the distance to the Angel at an incredible speed. Distracted by the pyrotechnics, Shamshel was too late to notice Shinji and unable to bring up it's AT field.

In a textbook tackle, Shinji buried his good shoulder into the mid section of Shamshel and drilled it, smashing into the ground. Shinji managed to stay on top and dug his knee into the chest, pinning Shamshel down as blood started to flow. With tentacles whipping and thrashing about, Shinji released the progressive knife and buried it deep into what he deemed to be the head of the Angel. An unholy howl filled the entire area as Shinji deepened the wound and twisted the knife to increase pain.

Soon the howling died down to a whimper and lashing stopped. Shinji continued to push the knife further into Shamshel's head to ensure that it was dead. By the end he was gasping the LCL for air and clutching his shoulder. He tried to lift his arm but couldn't.

(That's for Touji...) Not wanting to sound cliché, Shinji opted to keep the words to himself. He continued to ignore the voices pouring out from his radio as he slowly eased up off the Angel. He caught a flicker of motion in the corner of his VDU...just before a tentacle began to crush his throat. He managed to look down to see the eyes of the Angel burning with malice. In his struggle he managed to catch someone's voice from the speaker.

-...SHINJI! CORE!-

With what strength he had left, he pounded his fist against the Angel's chest. But this didn't seem to work as Shamshel inexorably increased the pressure on Unit one's neck. Then Shinji picked up on a second voice coming through his radio.

-...Shinji... Gun...- It was Touji's. To Shinji's amazement, Touji had dragged his half dead Eva to the desert eagle and threw it skidding across the ground. Shinji watched as the gun tumbled into reach. He stopped punching, reaching down to scoop up the weapon. With blood dripping down the barrel of the gun, Shinji concentrated all his energy on expanding his AT field and pointed it over the chest. The blast knocked Shamshel further into the ground, weakening its death grip on his EVA. He squeezed and continued to squeeze off round after round. Each time he closed his fist, a bullet tore into the flesh and core of the Angel. After the third round, Shamshel relaxed its hold and ceased moving but Shinji reflexively continued to fire until the clicking of the hammer told him that the magazine was empty. The Fourth Angel was finally dead.

He looked over to Touji and Eva Unit Four, to see him give a shaky thumbs up, signaling that he was all right.

–I'm glad you came back... Shin man- Touji's weak voice came over the radio.

"...I'm glad... as... well." Shinji replied before collapsing and losing consciousness. If he had managed to remain awake, he would have seen the ghostly presence of a young girl float down from above and curl comfortably onto his lap.

"Thank you... Shinji..." Eva whispered, her astral projection falling asleep to the warmth of Shinji's body. Unknown to both, the cockpit recorders were still active. Whether the damage sustain to the Eva during the battle would have allow the camera to catch the entire event was still unknown.

UNDISCLOSED AREA – PRISON DEATH ROW

Kaji watched the smoke billow into the afternoon sky as he waited for the prison bus and its captive cargo arrive. That cargo was former Nerv Commander, Gendo Ikari. Fuyutsuki had asked him to keep tabs on Gendo and his pending execution. After his sentence had been pronounced, the appropriate arrangements were made to relocate Ikari to a special holding cell in the government's prison on death row.

(I hope the Misato and the kids are all right... What am I saying? They aren't children anymore.)

He looked at his watched. Seventeen past four it read. The bus was late. Wanting to return the Nerv as soon as possible for an update from the battlefront he decided to query the on duty prison guard on the status of the bus. The guard obliged, returning shortly with news. The news didn't please the head of Section Two. Knowing that the guard wasn't to blame and causing a scene wouldn't help the situation, Kaji quickly left for his car. While walking back, he pulled his cell phone from his inner coat pocket and hit the speed dial.

"It's Kaji. Get me Commander Fuyutsuki. Tell him we have a problem..."

END CHAP 13

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Many thanks for the positive reviews, especially the guys who have read from very beginning. You know who you are and deserve a medal for reading my stuff. We finally hit the century mark. I'm not sure if Japan has the death penalty, so I apologize if this is incorrect. I had to add the little scene with news on Gendo. I felt that he had been forgotten for the past few chapters. Plus leaving his future up in the air, gives me more options to play with. More on Keel and the 'sleeper' will soon be revealed. I think it's time to start adding some twists and turns in the story...