"PMC my ass. They're a bunch of goddamn civilians playing at war." Captain Benjamin Smith, US 9th Cavalry, liaising with President Burnham
VIII
What have I done? Misato felt the blood drain from her cheeks. What the fuck have I done?
Like a sheet of lead, silence had suffocated all noise in the CIC. Technicians, security and higher ups alike stared in horror at the hologram. Their almighty weapon, the work of ten years that had cost trillions upon trillions of yen, that which was meant to save them, lay helpless as the enemy prepared to finish its bloody work. Much worse for Misato, however, was the fate of the hapless teenager entombed deep inside.
He's going to die. Her cross felt heavier. And it's my fault. He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me…
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Captain Smith glowering at them all. Distinct in his brown US army uniform, with eyes of the same colour and short cut blonde hair, this military man couldn't have contrasted the rest of Nerv more. Not a few minutes before he'd all but ordered the CEO to call in air support. Characteristically, Gendo had ignored him and chose instead to focus intently on the display.
Still, after Shinji had been hurled through much of downtown Nakisawame, Misato intervened, even though she risked overstepping herself. Shinji was simply not ready.
And we threw him into the meatgrinder all the same.
"HIJMS Hotaka is almost here. ETA of thirty seconds." Her top technician, a spectacled man, relayed smartly. Even as his colleagues gawped, he worked on regardless.
Just a few more moments you arrogant bastard, please. Misato didn't think to thank lieutenant Hyuga, her gaze instead darting desperately between the timer and the Seraph. It steadied itself to make the final blow. The FCV could not get there in time.
Apologetically and despairingly, Misato looked behind her at the man seated high above. Relentless and soulless automaton that he was, her boss was about to watch his son die.
Gendo remained unmoved. Indeed, he seemed more like a machine deep in calculation than a man. Misato felt bile rise in the back of her throat.
Do you actually care at all?
She tore her gaze away from him and back to the end result of their bungling. She would see death again before it came for them all.
I'm sorry, Shinji-kun. I'm so very sorry.
The Seraph's blade thrust down.
It punched through steel and flesh in equal measure, but it never came close to the entry plug. A great armoured hand had suddenly risen to catch it. Although thoroughly skewered, its fingers closed around the Seraph's fist and held it in place. Unit 01 lifted its head to look the enemy dead in the eye. Red lightning crackled.
But this power was not the Seraph's.
"Unit 01's H-Field is active." Said lieutenant Ibuki, surprise mixed with vague relief.
The Eva suddenly yanked its foe forward and delivered a head butt that gave off shockwaves. The Seraph roared and stumbled back, more dazed and infuriated than hurt. It clasped its helm tenderly. Unit 01 lurched to its feet, hunched and animalistic as its arms stretched out.
The Eva opened its steel jaw, as its eyes glowed red, and roared.
Its enemy, realising its foe had risen stronger than ever, shook off the pain and immediately charged, only to be met by the enraged leviathan. Unit 01 slammed into it. H-Fields flared momentarily then failed. The Seraph was carried clean off its feet as the Evangelium sank its jaws into its shoulder. It bellowed an alien bellow as it crashed to the ground. All but crushed, the Seraph savagely stabbed the Eva in its side and managed to throw the mindless beast off.
Whilst the rest of Nerv sat in stupefied awe, with even Captain Smith staring wide eyed, Misato remained single minded. "Pilot's vitals!?"
"We…we…" lieutenant Ibuki despairingly scratched her head. "We don't know. It's like the Eva has overridden-"
"Then find out." Misato barked.
The Seraph regained its footing and form. It danced back from the Eva's wild grasps, dangerous enough even one handed. After a while its composure returned, as if over the surprise, and artfully thrusted again and again. The tip of its blades scraped Unit 01's grey armour. Titanium bubbled and singed. Yet the Eva showed little sign of caution or anguish, only rage. Its enemy continued to dance and to prod, as if it were now a game.
"Cocky bastard, isn't he?" Lieutenant Aoba, a long-haired man both dedicated and unprofessional, murmured. Alongside Hyuga and Ibuki, they made up Misato's command staff.
"It's a Seraph, lieutenant." Misato said sternly. "It doesn't know what that means."
As she began to ponder what their next course of action would be, given that the titans matched each other, Misato realised the Seraph had momentarily erred. It had prodded the Eva again, although this time the grey giant had charged on as a beam of light punched through its shoulder. The enemy had no time to pull back, nor could it due to how embedded its strike was. Unit 01 crashed into the Seraph with the force of a tsunami. Barriers of red lightning danced against each other until they faded.
"Seraph H-Field cancelled!" Aoba called out.
Misato could only be amazed. Ten years of work was finally paying off as the Eva did everything Nerv had promised and more. We…we could actually stand a chance.
A salvo of falling stars crashed down as the titans tussled. An alien shriek of genuine pain echoed over shockwaves and the crump of detonation.
"HIJMS Hotaka is on site and ready to provide fire support." Hyuga said redundantly, the Japanese Aviation Corps moving a little too fast for him.
With its field compromised, the mighty Seraph was good target practice for the Hotaka. The long vessel utilised its missile compliments for more precise and less devastating hits.
Unit 01 meanwhile, although battered with its own field down, remained protected by its armour. Despite its loss of a limb and suffering all sorts of punishment, the Eva was still in one piece. And as Misato noticed to her relief, there seemed to be no damage to the plug area.
"Ibuki, have you got anything yet?" Misato said.
"Aside from life signs, still nothing." She shook her head. "It's like the Eva has overridden everything…I'm not sure Ikari-san is in control anymore."
"Beserker…" Ritsuko whispered, grim satisfaction mixed with fear. "It's gotten free."
You said it, didn't you? 'Trust in Eva. It will protect you.' The significance of those words hit home now. Although far above her paygrade, Misato had never bought the official line of Evangelium's true nature. The way Unit 00 freaked out last week…synthetic lifeform completely under our control, my ass.
Unit 01 did not relent. Grabbing hold of whatever it could, debris soon sailed through the air at the surprised and injured Seraph. It tried to back off and keep the Eva at a distance. The Evangelium would have none of that though. It charged with terrible speed and leapt through the air at the last moment. The Seraph stabbed forwards, to give what would have been a killing blow through the sternum for an ordinary foe.
Unit 01 didn't care. It brought its clenched hand down on the Seraph's head, cracking its bony armour and shattering every window within a kilometre from the shockwave.
A horrid scream cut across the orange late afternoon sky. Blue blood streamed from the Seraph's head as it staggered, blind for the moment. Another fusillade of missiles ripped into it. The behemoth was spun around only for Unit 01 to be upon it again, mercilessly pummelling its ruined head. The Seraph wildly slashed at its assailant, desperate to make the pain stop. It soon became clear the Eva could feel pain too, as its howls of agony joined the Seraph's. At last, those blades of light cut open the Eva's abdomen, just as their wielder's helmet gave way. Gore splattered it as gigantic intestines protruded from Unit 01's stomach.
The battleship grey titan screamed, loud enough that those hidden in shelters far below covered their ears and rolled on the floor in pain. It staggered back as the Seraph threw out a point-blank Hawking Field storm that finally put distance between them.
Both staggered, worse for wear than many had feared. Unit 01's armour was rent and singed black. Crimson ichor flowed from its gut, as the titan held stringy flesh uselessly in its hand. The Seraph meanwhile struggled to use one of its limp arms, blue blood streaming over its eyes.
Cold fingers crushed Misato's heart. Sympathetic injury. He could be feeling all of that… Sheshook her head, focusing the on situation at hand. She had to, for Shinji's sake. "Tell the Hotaka to increase bombardment. We can't let up on this thing."
After a swift cry of "yes ma'am!", the Hotaka swung its dorsal and ventral rail guns onto the Seraph and unleashed a broadside from its nine 18inch guns. One round struck the Seraph's ruined shoulder, causing it to stumble onto one kne, before the rest and a new wave of missiles hit its rejuvenated field. Some Nerv staff cursed under their breath. They'd hoped the military might finish it. Misato had not been so naïve.
A demi-god that slaughters tens of thousands of men and shrugs off direct positron strikes isn't going to go down that easy. The CEO was right, Eva is our only hope.
"It was worth a try. Order the Hotaka to hold fire. No use them wasting ammunition."
"Yes, ma'am!"
They'd wait for the two titans to clash again, for when the Seraph's field was down once more. To attack now would force the Seraph to focus on one target, and the loss of an FCV and its crew were casualties Misato would rather avoid.
The rattling of the Hotaka's guns faded, as a temporary peace fell upon Nakisawame. As it staggered to its feet, the Seraph fixed its gaze upon Unit 01. Man's ultimate weapon glowered back. They faced each other, a mere kilometre between them. To her eye, it was like they were catching their breath and trying to size their opponent up. Misato promptly dismissed those thoughts.
Seraphim don't think, and neither does Eva…She cast a quick glance at an ever more silent Ritsuko. Supposedly.
"Anything new on the pilot?" She asked Ibuki.
"Interference has cleared a little. His vitals are green. That's the best I can do for now."
Silver fucking linings.
"Keep me updated." She again snatched a glance over her shoulder, of "the boss" so high above. A part of her was disturbed that she was the one most interested in Shinji's wellbeing instead of his father, but that seemed to be the way of things. Gendo was a cold man, Ritsuko could tell enough stories about that.
As the smoke cleared, and the combatants got a better look at each other, the Eva looked at its ruined stump of an arm, then at the Seraph's head. For a moment the creature just stared back, as if confused, then after glancing at the Eva's gut, it nodded. In a burst of red lightning, a hand erupted from the Eva's stump, soon followed by the rest of the arm. It pushed its guts back in. The slash wound sealed itself shut. As it did that, the Seraph's helm clicked back together and its posture straightened.
"What…what!?" Misato blinked in surprise.
"That's impossible…" Ritsuko shook her head, refusing to believe as all others in the room did. "Seraphim run purely off instinct."
"And what about Eva?" Misato asked, unsatisfied by her old friend's sudden pursing of lips.
The Seraph slowly raised its right blade to its helm, like a fencer's salute. Unit 01 quietly bowed its head before they both assumed a fighting stance.
Formality was finished. This was to the death.
Hurried, urgent whispering tickled Misato's ear. She didn't need to turn around to know it came from above. She couldn't help but smirk a little.
Something not going to plan, asshole-san? Nice to know you aren't infallible.
Having lowered its blade, another burst of light jutted out from the Seraph's other hand. It roared, and the Eva matched it, before they clashed again. There was a flurry of slashes, hacks, punches and kicks, as the titans furiously assailed each other in combat that shook the earth. Even far down here, Misato could have sworn she'd seen some dust be shaken free from the ceiling.
"You guys weren't kidding." Smith said, having been previously quiet. "Eva is one hell of a thing."
She raised an eyebrow at that. By Smith's standards this was a complement.
"Apology accepted, Smith-san." Ritsuko faintly smiled as he scowled.
Smith growled under his breath then looked back at the hologram.
Unit 01 knew its opponent's weaknesses now and focused itself on them. Blow after blow rained down on the Seraph's helm, but the creature was far from idle. It had changed target as well, now going for the Eva's head.
Still going for a kill shot? Eva's too strong, you can't do it that quickly. Misato bit her lip in thought. Much supposition about the Seraphim came apart before her eyes. Even if they were beyond humanity in terms of the magnitude of their existence, they had at least a rudimentary concept of tactics.
Well if that's how this game is going to be played…
"Contact Hotaka, I want it to deploy its strike craft compliment. Attack the Seraph from its rear." She folded her arms and set her jaw.
"Understood!"
"What's the thinking, Director? Distract the enemy enough for our boy to do the rest?" Smith tilted his head.
"Pretty much, Smith-san." She scarcely acknowledged him, her mind narrowing. This was how she could help Shinji, her responsibility, so now this became her world.
"We could damage the Eva more than we have to…" Ritsuko said gently, the implicit masking of "Shinji" with "Eva" apparent to Misato.
"Unit 01's covered in armour, it'll be fine. Besides…" She grinned. "Shinji-kun's got one hell of a meat shield."
Like a swarm of angry hornets, Sanda strike bombers broke off from the Hotaka's ventral hangers, arched around the Seraph's rear, then descended. Cannons chattered away as volley after volley of missiles corkscrewed into the Seraph's H-Field, successfully dividing its attention. It tried to force Unit 01 back then blast at these gnats, but the Eva wouldn't let it. Unit 01 practically rebounded back onto it.
Once more, the Seraph's helm cracked. It was becoming clear that this Seraph simply wasn't as fast as the Eva. Step by step, it was forced back, its offense whittled away into nothing as it had to fend off the enraged Eva. Still its composure remained, its swings and lunges purposeful; the enemy had adapted and would not be forced into a frantic position again.
As clear evidence of this, as the hopes of Nerv CIC began to rise, the Seraph suddenly lashed out with a strike at the Eva's arm. The blade pierced straight through what might have been Unit 01's humerus. Stumbling back, the Eva gave a low hiss whilst a hint of triumph flickered across the Seraph's black eyes.
Misato cursed.
It's playing the long game now. Armour's weaker on the limbs.
The tables had turned. The Eva's reckless pressing of its attack had become predictable. Control of the fight was now carried on the edge of the Seraph's blades, as it lunged and slashed at limbs thrown its way. It could finally breath.
Great, seared gashes became more and more apparent. Some scraps of armour dripped off as molten slag, the heat enough to enrage the Eva ever more. Yet there was still method to the beast's madness. Unwilling to expose its arms long enough to be slashed off as earlier, Unit 01's attacks became shorter and more direct instead of great lunges. Whilst it landed a few initial blows, which even cracked the Seraph's mighty chest plate, the enemy swiftly adapted and danced out of range.
Misato's eyebrows knitted together in furious thought. The Hotaka could press the attack, but the way things were going the Seraph could momentarily shrug off Unit 01 and assail the FCV.
What to do? There's still its fighter craft compliment, but they won't put a scratch in it.
All the while, matters grew worse. The Seraph had taken to tossing Unit 01 around. It threw it back with great upward slices. After one of these, another H-Field storm slammed the Eva back, almost toppling the titan over. Unit 01 put one foot behind itself and leaned into a great ruin, a skyscraper that had been knocked down earlier, to balance itself. It paused for a moment and studied the ground for no apparent reason. To the eyes of Nerv there was only rubble.
It then lumbered forward, this time slowly and clumsily. The Seraph waited for it, as if it knew the game was up but refusing to rob its foe of honour. Unit 01 slowly broke into a sprint, each footfall landing heavily.
"Is it running out of power?" Misato asked.
"Negative. We've still got twenty-five minutes of energy, ma'am." Lieutenant Hyuga responded.
"Then what…" She shook her head as Eva and Seraph clashed for the last time.
Cut, bruised and slow, the Eva still attacked its foe like a typhoon, an unyielding force of devastation. Gone were its dodges. All was thrown into this last assault.
"Is it damaged?" Misato growled, as she tried to understand what was going wrong.
"Not too much, ma'am. Armour integrity is still well over fifty percent." Hyuga frowned. "I'll run the numbers again, can't be right."
She understood. There weren't any really bad injuries on the Eva's body, yet it acted as if life were draining from it. The Seraph smelt blood in the water and pressed its advantage.
It's not…it's not Shinji is it? Misato's chest tightened. Eva was a monster, but that boy was being made to soak up a lot of punishment. Could his mind take that?
The Seraph artfully backed up, letting its enemy wear itself out entirely. It battered away one more nigh drunken punch, then slashed at the Eva's throat. A gash was torn through titanium and whatever lay beneath it. The battleship grey titan clasped its throat and gurgled. Unit 01 staggered until the Seraph hit it with another blast of its H-Field, and the titan was flung like a ragdoll into the remains of the skyscraper it had flattened earlier. The beast's hand limply dragged across the ground as it tried to summon the strength to rise again.
"Pilot's heart rate has gone through the roof!" Ibuki reported, guilt inflected in her tone. Misato had to fight herself reaching for her throat. Phantom crimson cascaded out of that slit like a waterfall.
"Administer a sedative." Ristuko ordered.
"We can't, ma'am." Ibuki said helplessly. "We've got no control over Unit 01 right now, only the data we're receiving."
"Shit." Misato herd her old friend curse under her breath.
It's not fatal, Shinji-kun. Remember what I said…
What came next, she grimly noted, could be fatal. The Seraph observed its stricken opponent, then nodded in approval of what a fine show its enemy had put on. One blade retracted whilst the other remained extended. It brought that blade up into a plunging position, then charged. No arrogance, nor malice, just an eagerness to finish this.
Misato's mind already crunched the necessary numbers to understand whether it could actually strike the killing blow. The Eva's Manmitsu organ and its pilot, its most vital areas, sat at the centre of the chest behind solid plate armour. That armour was strong, but the Seraph had cut through it like cardboard. By some stroke of luck, its blade hadn't so far gone through the place which would kill an Eva stone dead.
"Tell Hotaka to broadside on my command!" She barked.
"But, Director, the Eva-"
"It and its pilot are dead if we do nothing-" she never finished her sentence.
At the last moment, Unit 01's supposedly limp arms snatched something off the dust covered ground. It was the steel point of the skyscraper's spire.
The impromptu pike punched straight through the Seraph's weakened armour and exploded from its back. Sheer momentum skewered it. Slowly and shakily, it looked down at its mortal injury, blue ichor washing out crystalline shards of the same colour.
Misato had to catch her breath.
It…tricked it? She smiled in disbelief. Of course, both their fields were down for defensive purposes.
"It's Manmitsu organ." Ritsuko murmured.
"Seraph energy readings fading, ma'am." Hyuga said. "I think we got it."
"I think" isn't good enough. Misato set her jaw sternly. "Tell the Hotaka to finish it off."
"Understood."
After a single broadside of rail guns, the Seraph was flung through the air, singed flesh flying off it in equal measure. An arm flattened a convenience store, whilst a foot tore up a road. The rest of it lay on its back, twitching. Unit 01 dropped its pike and stood up to full height. Momentarily, it seemed to survey its ruined surroundings with a twinge of regret before it approached the Seraph.
Sighs of relief echoed in the CIC, but no one cheered. They'd won their first battle, but it had been a grim one and far too close a call. Misato didn't look away from the hologram.
Going to make sure it's dead? I'm having words with Rits later.
The Eva crouched next to the Seraph. The once almighty creature madly flailed around limply. The Eva followed its stretched stump and set eyes upon a lower segment of arm, hot energy blade still extended and causing tarmac to bubble. With a calmness comical for a creature of such size, the Eva walked over to the Seraph's weapon and picked it up, then brought it back to its stricken master. Unit 01 helped the Seraph wrap its stump around it, as if clasping its sword. The creature stilled, as if calmed.
"What are they doing?" Misato tilted her head.
"One warrior honouring another, maybe?" Smith wondered aloud.
She was tempted to dismiss him outright, to tell him how ludicrous that was. Nerv's studies were clear, Seraphim didn't have concepts of things such as life and death, let alone honour, and it was doubtful an Eva did too. They simply weren't made of the same material as man. But today had been a day for convention being defied, so Misato held her tongue. Besides, who knew battle better than a veteran of the Columbian War for Independence?
Unit 01 tenderly took its once formidable foe into its arms, gentle enough to not let the Seraph's sword slip. Gone was the monstrosity's ferocity, only an odd sort of gladness that it wasn't alone at the end. The Seraph went stiller, then never moved again.
"Energy readings flatlined. Fourth Seraph has been destroyed." Hyuga slumped into his seat.
Only a few sighs of relief echoed throughout a mentally exhausted CIC. Misato was one of them, pinching her nose and desperate to sit down. In their most perilous moment, Nerv had pulled through.
A persistent thought refused to let her rest, however.
"Pilot status?" She asked again.
"Clearing up now, ma'am." Ibuki said, the red light of Unit 01's eyes fading into white. "He's flitting in and out of consciousness, but vitals are completely green."
"Dispatch recovery teams. Get him out. I want him in the infirmary within the hour."
"Ma'am?" Hyuga tilted his head. "Wouldn't it be better to bring Unit 01 back into the facility first-"
"Get him out." She reiterated, looking up at the projection of the battered, bruised and bloodied Eva. "He's been through enough today."
Misato turned around to look the CEO in the eye, to both draw some strength from that implacable face of stone and try to reassure him that his son was alright. But to her surprise, he and Chairman Fuyutsuki had already left the room.
