"So… Let's see." Momonga placed the last part of the Positron Rifle into a positively massive concrete-made artillery trench. The trench was over three hundred meters long and wide, and had upwards-protruding concrete 'lips' to serve as cover towards Tokyo-3. "Did you guys really make this in half a day?"
"The firing position was prepared well in advance if we needed to entrench super-heavy artillery and fire at an Angel which was about to enter Tokyo-3." Misato explained as she was walking behind Momonga with a few clipboards in her hands and a phone sandwiched between her cheek and shoulder in a fairly awkward-looking pose. "Yeah, Ritsuko, Second promised that… I know, it sounds outlandish, but even if that doesn't work, you have the power grid to fall back on, right? Alright, thanks Ritsuko. Misato, out."
"Hm?"
"Ritsuko asked for Japan's power-grid to be redirected to this point. We've already begun announcements for nation-wide blackouts during the night battle, but if you can power the rifle with your S2 Organ, we won't be needing that… Not to mention, Ritsuko heard the plan and almost passed out from shock and joy." Misato explained while she put her phone away. "Firstly this'll give us a good amount of data on how S2 Organs work, and also allow us to fire the rifle with higher rate of fire- We expected the rifle to be able to fire only once or twice, as it takes roughly one hundred and eighty seconds for it to reload it's capacitors due to the stress on power grid… But with S2 Organ to power it, we can likely fire as quickly as Asuka-chan can replace the fuses in the rifle."
'Hm…' Momonga realized that he could use the NERV's capabilities to study the operation of the Positron Rifle, and swipe the rifle back after the operation while he would be much wiser about actually utilizing the rifle as well. 'All that remains is actually connecting the rifle to the S2 Organ… I can probably do something with [Create Greater Item] to that end, and potentially reinforce it with Data Crystals if things get desperate…'
"How are the EVA's, then?" Momonga asked as Misato had detailed their combat-plan to him.
"Asuka's in a fighty mood, which I'll take as 'she's as good as it gets'" Kaji commented from Momonga's other side. "Misato?"
"Shinji seemed to have found his resolve, and… I'm pretty surprised, honestly." Misato looked troubled. "Did you do something to Shinji-kun, Suzuki-san?"
"I can't recall that I did?" Momonga shrugged. It was clear that Misato didn't buy his excuse. 'I did tag Shinji, but I don't think it'd change his personality or anything…'
"...Anyway, Rei's as combat-ready as ever. She'll be shielding you and Unit-02 when you two are operating the rifle." Misato sighed after a moment. "I can't help but to be nervous… It feels as if we've gobbled this operation from scraps."
"We'll make it." Kaji noted.
"Hm…" Momonga made a roughly affirmative noise without committing to either side of the answer.
Misato didn't look like either response reassured her one bit.
Her phone rang almost immediately afterwards.
"Misato here- Fuytsuki? The Angel changed course?! It's heading towards the Positron Rifle's position instead of Tokyo-3?! Shit-!" Misato cursed into the phone. "It must have figured out our plan- The ambush is out of the picture now. We need to pivot the rifle around, the Angel will come from behind us!"
"Surely that won't be such a big problem?" Momonga asked. "I recall that EVA's are quite strong, and I can just move the assembled rifle back to, um, where I had it previously…"
"The problem is that we were planning on having Unit-01 be a decoy for the Angel, and ambush it from the flank with the rifle when the Angel reaches optimal range for the rifle! There's no way Unit-00 would be able to hold back the firepower of the Angel if it actually spots us first and attacks before we get a proper shot off on it! The Positron Rifle's maximum effective range is around sixty kilometers, and the Angel initially attacked the Pacific Fleet from that range!" Misato had pulled another phone and was talking to both at once while explaining the situation to Momonga. "We can't withstand sustained bombardment, specifically if the Angel actually has longer range than that and could potentially just shell us from beyond our maximum engagement range!"
"That wouldn't be a problem. I can just hop on board the rifle and power it, while using [Gate] to teleport the EVA, the rifle, and myself around." Momonga handwaved Misato's explanation of the situation.
Misato seemed to pause again. And then she sighed while closing one of her phones to dial a number on the other. "...Haa… Your teleporting is seriously bullshit…"
"Do you object?"
"I'm about two revelations away from jumping on your lap and kissing you."
"I'd object, you know."
"Hoo? Misato-chan's not your fancy?" Kaji joked from the side in response to Momonga's stern refusal. Momonga, however, leveraged his businessman-past to read from Kaji's pose that the man did object to Misato's relieved 'offer', even if Momonga shot her down.
"There is a line of approach to those kinds of things." Momonga explained to Kaji. "Moving on, I'll be on board the Positron Rifle, so please tell Asuka to not move around too much. I'd rather not slip off… Actually, I should probably make a seat or something…"
.
.
"...Hmph." Asuka stomped off the briefing-room as soon as Shinji entered.
"What's with Asuka-san…?" Shinji asked Rei while he stuffed a toffee energy bar into his mouth to get himself energy. 'The battle is going to start soon… I need to focus, I need energy… I can't… I can't show weakness, I can't show fear, I have to be strong…'
"Pilot Langley-Sohryu appears to be angry." Rei supplied while she was standing beside the briefing room's table, clad in her white skin-tight plug-suit.
Shinji was clad in his violet plug-suit, and from what he had seen of Asuka before her march-off, she had been clad in her red suit and was ready for combat.
However, he didn't recognize a spectacled girl in a pink plug-suit who was sitting on a chair beside the briefing room's table, and had her feet on the table while the chair was balanced precariously on it's rearmost legs.
The girl blew a red bubblegum-bubble and popped it. "Hi, puppy-kun! We haven't been introduced- I'm Mari-chan! I'm a spare pilot after I blew my EVA up, so in the event of any of you getting brutally murdered, I'll be there to pick up your EVA to fight! Soviet-era style! One pilot gets an EVA, the other follows it around and enteres the EVA when the first pilot dies!"
"T-that's reassuring…" Shinji gulped. "Um-"
"I'm joking, I'm joking… Relax, puppy-kun." Mari waved her hand at Shinji. "I'm a spare, but I came here out of my own accord. I'm actually not supposed to even be here."
"How'd you get by the guards?" Rei asked with a monotone voice.
"I left a porn mag on the street and waited for a change of guard. One of them took the bait and went for it, and I slipped in during that." Mari put her forefinger thoughtfully against her cheek and poked her tongue out at Rei. "Kidding. I have a Pilot-clearance level access-card so I just showed myself in."
"I see…" Rei seemed to be quite uncaring and returned to her silent vigil.
"...Is she always like that or does she just hate me?" Mari leaned in to whisper to Shinji's ear.
"Um, Rei doesn't… really talk all that much…" Shinji tried to be diplomatic, and was saved from further elaboration as the door of the briefing room opened and Misato marched in. Not to mention how embarrassed he felt as the quite well-endowed girl had put her face right next to Shinji's in order to whisper to his ear.
"Change of plans, gang." Misato announced and spotted the pink-clad pilot who had returned to her seat. "Mari? Haa… Fine, whatever. So, the Angel caught onto our tricks- Where's Asuka?"
"Here." Kaji entered after Misato while hand-in-hand with Asuka. "Asuka-chan? Misato-chan? Do you mind if I hang around during the briefing?"
"Sure!" Asuka agreed instantly while beaming at the man.
"Ugh… Fine. It's not as if you don't know the plan already…" Misato's mood seemed to plummet as she spotted Kaji. "Right, so, now that we have all pilots gathered… The plan changed. The Angel's onto us, and it's heading straight for us instead of going for Tokyo-3."
"Ah…" Shinji paled as the sudden change set his nervous nature on high-alert status. Which caused sweat to start trickling down his back and his face to pale… But he gulped and forced the fear down. 'I can't show fear, I can't show weakness, I have to be strong, I can't show fear, I can't show weakness, I have to be strong… Like dad… Like Suzuki-kun…'
Misato narrowed his eyes a bit as she spotted the turmoil that must have shown on Shinji's face, before she continued her speech. "It looks like Second planned for that to happen though, and took proactive measures to ensure we'd have a way to fight the Angel. It's quite likely that the Angel still outranges the Positron Rifle's effective engagement envelope, so we'll have to go for a more assault-oriented strategy."
"I thought the Positron Rifle needed to be anchored in place, you know, with the whole terawatt-level power requirement and all?" Mari had her hand in the air like a student in a class.
"How do you know- Nevermind. Yes, that was the original plan. However, Second- Mari?"
"Fuytsuki-kun explained everything to me!" Mari popped a bubblegum-bubble to accent her speech.
"Right- Fine! Second will power the rifle with his S2 Organ, Asuka will shoulder-fire it, and Unit-00, Unit-01 and Unit-02 will engage the Sixth Angel using portals that Second will make!" Misato had a vein popping on her forehead as she ignored Mari's third attempt to say something. "Unit-00 will serve as the shield, while Unit-01 will help Unit-02 haul the gun- It's too big to shoulder-fire effectively even for an Evangelion, so Shinji will need to act as both a gun-carrier and a firing platform."
"You mean Asuka-san will be firing that huge rifle just beside the head of Unit-01?" Shinji sweated a bit as Asuka was giving him a death-glare.
"Quite so- Asuka, can you do it?"
"I-"
"If she can't, I volunteer to pull the trigger." Mari poked her tongue playfully at Asuka.
"OF COURSE I CAN DO IT!" Asuka screamed both at Mari and at Misato. "Shut up, pink bimbo!"
"Sure thing, princess~" Mari sing-songed rubbed the side of her head with her knuckles while having one of her eyes closed and poking her tongue out from the side of her mouth.
"Grr…" Asuka growled at Mari, who put her legs on the table again and leaned back to pull a porn magazine from under the table and buried her face in it.
"It- Ahem. Right. Back on track- Rei. Can you move quickly enough with Unit-00 to protect Unit-01 and -02?" Misato coughed to bring the briefing back on track. "Moreover, since the portals close after use, the Umbilical Cable will be severed, leaving the EVA's with one-to-five minutes of effective power. You'll have to take down the Angel by then."
"Unit-00 can attain maximum speed of fifty-six miles per hour with the prosthetic, and two hundred and eighty-one with its original configuration." Rei answered blandly. "However, the prosthetic will likely break after prolonged strain due to it's ramshackle nature."
"I see… That should be enough for now, though." Misato sighed.
"Wait, you said that Suzuki-kun… That he's using a S2-something to power the Positron Rifle?" Shinji asked, feeling suddenly nervous. "What do you mean?"
"It means that Suzuki-kun is using his heart, his core of existence, to power the rifle." Kaji explained from the side. "In other words, there's a chance that he'll end up dying in case the rifle malfunctions or has to draw more power than the core can sustain. At least under conventional logic- He mentioned that the Organ can provide infinite energy, but only on-paper. The reality is likely something less glorious."
"That- He…" Shinji felt his spine run with coldness… Until it reached an integer overflow loop and looped right back to determination. 'Suzuki-kun… It's like he said. He shows no fear, shows no weakness… His strength, his determination… He stands to defend us all, from other Angels… From his own brothers… I can't waver, just like he won't. He stands for us all- I won't let him down. I won't let dad down. I'll walk- Unit-01 will walk!'
.
.
Unit-01's eyes started to glow red, despite the fact that the EVA was disconnected from the unit's internal power packs and external power.
.
.
"Pilot Langley-Sohryu." Rei spoke to the fellow EVA pilot who was sitting one the steel strut that had been erected next to the kneeling 'Offline' EVA's neck so that the pilots could enter the EVA's when the order came.
It was already nightfall, and the air was starting to turn quite cold, and the pilots had been waiting on the struts for roughly an hour.
Rei and Asuka were within eyeshot of one another, while Shinji was out of sight on Unit-01's entry-strut, behind the EVA Unit-00.
"Pilot Langley-Sohryu." Rei repeated as Asuka was sitting on her strut with her knees hugged against her chest. "Please respond."
"Shut up, doll."
"...Are you afraid, Pilot Langley-So-"
"Call me Asuka-san, doll. You're not worthy to be calling me by my surname." Asuka growled out. "I'm not afraid. Are you?!"
"...I am not. I have nothing to fear. I am but replaceable hardware. If I were to die, another would take my place." Rei spoke.
"...You're not replaceable." A third voice came from somewhere and Rei looked behind herself to see that Shinji had walked back from his strut to the walkway connecting all three entry-struts, and was walking towards Rei.
He sat next to Rei.
"Pilot Ikari, you need to be ready to ente-"
"Shut up." Shinji told Rei while grabbing her shoulders with both hands, and Rei in turn froze still. "You're not replaceable. Stop that. We're all fighting. I'm fighting. Suzuki-kun is fighting. Asuka-san is fighting. We're all fighting so we all can come back alive. And that we have something that we can come back to."
Shinji's facade seemed to crumble for a moment before he recomposed himself. "...I'm afraid. I'm terrified. When I think about what's going to happen in a few minutes… I… I feel like I want to puke. I want to flee, I want to scramble and run, and hide somewhere… But if I do that, there will be nothing left. Not me, not Suzuki-kun. Not you."
"Pilot Ikari-"
"Call me Shinji-kun. I've told you this." Shinji looked at Rei, and Rei was surprised to find the same determined look on his eyes that Commander Gendo Ikari had. "You may be expendable 'hardware' to NERV, but you are my friend. You are not expendable to me. So stop thinking that you are expendable. You are not- Not to me. And I'll make sure to be there if you stumble, ready to catch you if you fall, and I'll be there to tell you that you are not expendable again and again, if you need me to. Rei-san, I…"
"...Get a room, you two." Asuka whispered quietly, and both Shinji and Rei turned to look at the girl who was shaking while hugging her legs against her chest. "You're both chest-thumping but neither of you are important for this operation. I'll be the gunner, you two are just expendable meat sacks to protect me. Don't think so highly of yourselves, idiots."
"...Asuka-san. We're all in this together. No shield is complete without a sword, no sword complete without shield, and neither is complete without armor." Shinji looked like he was trying to remember some saying, and Rei remembered one of the nights when Suzuki had come to eat in the Katsuragi-Ikari apartment, and Shinji had challenged Suzuki to a video-game… and Misato had lost three hundred yen to her pet warm-water penguin when she had bet for Shinji's victory.
Rei tilted her head at Asuka who looked like she was shaking from anger.
"What do you know about any of that, Failure? You've never really fought an Angel, you've just dumb-lucked your singular fight, and someone else had to come and clean up your mess. Now you have the audacity to lecture me?!" Asuka growled furiously and shot up to her feet. "You're no-one! Just some kid picked off the streets just because your daddy couldn't find a replacement pilot for the one that broke!"
"Asuka-san. You and Pilot Ika- Shinji-kun have a similar combat-record against live Angels." Rei reminded the girl. It seemed to be a mistake.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! It was because you two clowns distracted me! Just you wait, I'll… I'll show you both! That I am the best, that I am-" Asuka screamed at Rei… And Shinji walked next to the red-headed and red-faced girl before slapping her.
Rei stared at Shinji who had pulled a pair of cheap store-bought sunglasses from a dump-pouch strapped on his thigh. The boy then put the glasses on his face in a startlingly Gendo-like manner and adjusted them on his nose-bridge in clearly Gendo-like fashion.
"Pilot Langley-Sohryu. Why are you here?" Shinji told Asuka with a coldness that surprised even Rei.
"What- How dare you?!" Asuka shot up to her feet as she had fallen on her butt from the impact and shock of the sudden slap.
"If you can't focus on the battle, then there is a replacement lined up for you." Shinji stated, causing Asuka's instinctive counter-attack to freeze mid-swing. "Mari-san has a successful combat record against two live Angels, based on what Misato-san told me. Even if it was won by sacrificing Unit-05 to achieve that victory. She can do that again."
"No, that…" Asuka's rage seemed to be replaced by sudden fright. "Unit-02 is mine! Mine alone! That bitch won't-"
"If you cannot get yourself under control and pilot your EVA according to the plan, you will be replaced." Shinji's tone was cold, like Gendo's, and Rei felt a sudden urge to get up on her feet. "Are you here to 'play' with your Unit-02? Or are you here to fight for all of humanity, for all of us, so that we all can come back home again? Or are you here to earn praise, or to prove that you are 'capable'... By screaming in your anger at others, and lying to yourself?"
Asuka charged Shinji and hit him straight in the face, causing the cheap sunglasses to break and Shinji to stumble back and collapse into Rei's hug as she had reached him on the strut.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shutupshutupshutupshutup!" Asuka screamed in abject anger and terror. "You know nothing! You idiot! Fool! Leech! Pervert, good-for-nothing, worthless-"
"I see… Misato-san. It appears Asuka-san is incapable of performing her role. Send Mari in." Shinji pulled a flip-phone from his pouch and put it against his ear.
"What- No!" Asuka tossed herself between Shinji and the extruded Entry Plug which was next to the entry strut with it's hatch open and ready to accept a Pilot. "You wouldn't- Don't you dare! I'll hate you forever for this, Ikari!"
"...I'll accept your hatred if that's the price for our survival. Your weakness shows, and our enemies have eyes to see. Your arrogance, pride and… fear are a hindrance and vulnerability. The enemy we face is one of apocalyptic strength, and your heart wavers- You are not ready." Shinji's words were as cold as his eyes as he looked at Asuka past the broken sunglasses, with blood dripping from a few cuts the shards of plastic had punctured on his brow. "Stand down, Pilot Langley-Sohryu. You are not needed anymore."
"I WON'T! I WON'T LOSE UNIT-02! IT'S ALL I HAVE! STOP IT! STOP IT, IKARI!" Asuka screamed while she stood between Unit-02 and Shinji, arms wide like a mother protecting her child.
"Then show it! Show your determination, and not your arrogance and anger!" Shinji broke free from Rei's grasp and took a step towards Asuka with such fury in his eyes that Asuka took a step back. "Stand! Stand with me, with your Unit-02! For my Unit-01 will walk! Unit-01 will walk to war! I will walk to war, and I will come back! UNIT-01 WILL WALK!"
"RROOŎ̴͖̘̰̚͜ͅO̸̠̐̍̀̾O̶̟̦͙̳̻̻͛O̸̢̟̹̖̱͛̆̿̈́̕A̶̻̠̫̰͇̹͋͒͘͠Á̵̫͍̭̊Ầ̵͔̼͍̦̈́̚Á̵̼̮̝̀̋̂̄̅͜A̴̛̬̅̇͊A̸̯̻̲̮͑̀͘͜A̸̯̘̱͆͛̽͂͌̏Ḁ̴͉͛̓̅͛͆Ă̷̤̐A̵̙̙͎̭̯̋̀͠A̴͖̥̼̙͛͑ͅA̴̢̻̓̕͜Ä̸̬̫̟̖͍́̆͂́̾A̷̛̯͈̗̯̪̍̾A̸̹͊̌͌̄͝A̶̠̼͚͚̦̣͒̎̈́̕Ạ̵̡̫̞̞̣̈́̇̑̈̚͠Ȁ̵̡̜̲͇͖͓̽̌͘Ȁ̶͓͇̦̰͖̂̓͋͘͜Ä̶̙̟͇̞͑Ä̸̛̱́̾͋͊̍ͅA̶̢̭̤̫̝̯͂͑͘Ą̷͓̖͔̱͊̓͂̓̈́͝Ȧ̵̧͎͕̈́̕Ǎ̸̡̛̳̮̱̜̣͊̽͘Ả̵͓͎́̐A̴̙̙̻͇͊̕Ã̸̛͉̺͓͎̗́͑̕̚A̴̢̽͌A̸͔͊̏A̵̢̢͊̑͛A̶̞͚͌!"
An earth-shattering roar shook the steel struts of the temporary EVA-cages and caused the mountains to echo the fury of the roar.
The wailing of car alarms responded to the roar as the cars below rocked on their tires and car-alarms went off en-masse, while some of their windows had cracked from the pressure-wave of the roar.
Rei looked slowly to the side to see that Unit-01 had partially broken free of its cage-restrains- It's eye had a slowly dimming red light, and it's jaw had broken it's locks and stops to let itself loose for a defiant, furious roar, yet once it had been over, the EVA remained limply in its cage like it's two brethren.
Asuka flopped on her butt on the strut, terrified.
Rei noticed a faint red glimmer in Shinji's irises.
Asuka looked up at Shinji with a pale face, and the boy looked equally shocked for a brief moment before it vanished from his face, alongside the faint red light in his irises, and he turned to look at Asuka… And offered her his hand.
"Stand. Let Unit-02 walk as proudly as Unit-01." Shinji offered his hand towards Asuka again while the girl looked down in shame and embarrassment. "I know you have what it takes- If you let go of your arrogance and anger. Walk with me. Walk with us. Unit-02 wants to walk, so stand- Pilot Asuka Sohryu-Langley!"
"I… can't…"
"We'll be there with you. You'll fire the rifle, and I'll be the platform for you to place the gun. Rei will be there to shield us. Suzuki-kun will give us the power to defeat that Angel. We'll make it." Shinji offered his hand for the third time and Asuka swatted it aside again with a powerless, limp swing.
"It's… I… I can't… I peed myself…" Asuka had a furious, angry blush on her otherwise pale and terrified features and she looked away in shame.
"Ah. Umu." Shinji seemed to take a step back. "U-umu, anyway, in that case… erm… I'll… I'll just go back to Unit-01… You two, take care of yourselves. We'll make it through, right?"
Rei nodded to Shinji, and Shinji reached to pat Rei's shoulder for a bit.
Rei put her own hand on top of Shinji's for a while, as she was feeling oddly comforted by the act.
"Rei-san?"
"...Rei-chan. Shinji-kun."
"...I'll cook some of your favorite tofu when we get back home, Rei-chan. Listen, I… I, um… After this, do you… ahem… n-nevermind." Shinji smiled at Rei and tried to tell her something, but failed to muster the courage at the crucial moment. "I'll see you soon, Rei-chan."
"Goodbye, Ikari-kun."
"Shush. Not that. Try again." Shinji put his finger on Rei's lips.
"...I'll see you soon, Shinji-kun."
"I'll see you two again soon, Rei-chan. Asuka-san." Shinji walked off on the struts, and disappeared behind Unit-00, where Unit-01 was.
.
.
"Haa… Haa… Haa…" Shinji fell on his knees instantly after getting out of line of sight, feeling as if he had stood in a staring contest against an angry bear, and had spat into its eye. Yet somehow despite that he had lived to tell the tale. "Owie, owie…"
'It hurts… Ow…' He reached to pull out the shards of plastic that were still stuck to his brow and took off the broken sunglasses from his face. 'T-that was terrifying… Asuka-san is so scary when she's angry… And… Not to mention, what happened with Unit-01?!'
Shinji felt as if his heart would burst from the surge of adrenaline and fear, but forced it all down. 'I can't believe Suzuki-kun does this all the time… Haa… Suppressing one's fear, not showing weakness nor vulnerability… All the time. You're amazing, Suzuki-kun…'
He pulled his legs against his chest to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down. 'I can't show weakness, I can't show fear, I can't show weakness, I can't show fear… I have to be strong, I have to be strong, I can't show weakness, I can't show fear…'
Shinji repeated the mantra a few times in his head until it calmed him down and allowed him to stand up straight.
The wail of air-sirens caused Shinji to jump a bit before he heard Misato's voice from his ear-piece, announcing the operation to commence.
'I must not show weakness, I must not show fear. I must be strong. I must not show weakness…' Shinji repeated his mantra as he entered the Entry Plug and allowed it to submerge him into the thin, blood-smelling LCL. '...I have no fear. I have no weakness. Only my will courses through my veins, stronger than hate, stronger than fear. I have no fear, I have no weakness…'
.
.
Twenty-one seconds later Unit-01's eyes lit from within with baleful red glare and the EVA unit stood from it's outdoor-cage.
Unit-00 was already waiting on its feet, standing idly in the chilly night air while holding it's skyscraper-sized slab-shield to the side.
The red Unit-02 shambled up like a zombie to grab the Positron Rifle… And it's passenger, a flesh-coated man in ridiculous-looking robe-getup, who was sitting on a white plastic garden chair that had been anchored into the rifle's 'charging port', and who had a thick cable running from the rifle into somewhere inside his robe.
'Umu… These things are bigger than I remember, from the brief times I've seen them from the distance…' Momonga sweated a bit as while he remembered the ease with which he had disabled Unit-01, he felt a degree of instinctive uncertainty when he was in close proximity to the activated EVA unit.
Specifically as Unit-02 seemed to be desperately wanting to slap Momonga off the rifle and was somehow giving him a glare with it's four green eye-optics.
"Well then. Forward, noble knight!" Momonga decreed and pointed towards distance, where the Angel was slowly starting to come to view. "Go forth, and bring us victory! Sieg oder Tod!"
His hand shook as he realized that he had slipped to his 'Chuuni' after being confronted by Asuka's chuunibyou nature during the school. 'Oh no. That isn't good…'
However, it looked like Unit-02 recovered a bit of it's composure from the fellow chuunibyou 'speech', and shouldered the massive rifle, waiting for Momonga to cast a [Gate].
'Ugh… Can I just sit this one out…' Momonga groaned internally as he felt his resolve crumbling from the whiplash of chuuni, but he reminded himself that he'd get a chance to swipe both the Positron Rifle 'back' as well as the angel's S2 Organ (alongside whatever loot the Angel might drop), so he soldiered on nonetheless.
A massive [Gate] opened, and all three EVA's charged in…
.
.
"...Hm." Gendo Ikari grunted to himself as he put an empty injector the size of his arm back down on the table.
'Key of Nebuchadnezzar has been used, and the lost gate has been guaranteed to open… The Key to the Human Instrumentality Project, our triumph over Gods, is set in motion…' Gendo thought as the injector lost its luster and crumbled to fragments of bronze and ceramite. The miniaturized human nervous system that had built itself out of the injector, severed by Gendo's use of the item, vanished into thin smoke beside the injector's used shell-fragments.
Gendo gripped his injected arm in pain while his body underwent a change… Until the pain ended, and he put a wide one-part visor onto his face, covering his eyes, nose-bridge and the space between his brows and the top of his cheeks.
A line of red light started to shine from the slit in the visor, and Gendo straightened his back once more. "What is set in motion cannot be stopped. We cannot turn back the hands of the clock, yet it is within our power to advance them…"
The man turned around after speaking the words, not so much to himself but to the empty injector.
A challenge for the Gods.
'Now… Archeron reported that the True Third Angel, found frozen underneath permafrost, nearly escaped it's captivity, so Unit-05 had to put it down… however, there was another Angel that assaulted the base from outside- They believed that the two were working in unison- The True Third Angel and True Sixth Angel, both hidden from all but SEELE and me…' Gendo walked in the dark, red-tinted halls of North Arctic Sea command-carrier URAL-III, which was positioned in the arctic sea a few hundred kilometers to the north of Siberia.
The 'command carrier' was a combined effort from the UN and what little remained of the Russian-controlled land after the Second Impact, joining their forces in order to build a permanent 'semi-mobile' prison in the Arctic Sea that could hold captured Angels. The massive circular containment facility was made out of layered defenses- Archeron, Malebolge, Styx and Cocytus, much like how Geofront's defenses had layers- And a pair of Angels had nearly broken the entire facility in a two-pronged attack from within and without.
A group of guards struck a salute to NERV's commander as he exited the Key's containment room- While the base was under UN's joint command, or rather, under SEELE's direct command, Gendo had managed to infiltrate enough of his people into the facility to succeed in temporary takeover of the facility. Specifically now that Archeron didn't have Unit-05 to guard it. 'SEELE will know of my betrayal soon… But there is little they can do. They put their faith in Angels, on the Black Moon, waiting and wishing for succor… I place my faith in the greed of demons, and take my own fate into my own hands… If that requires me to damn my own soul, so be it…'
He walked into a huge white-walled room which was full of surgical equipment and doctors, each hurrying on their own tasks and taking measures, making cuts, and preparing tests.
Gendo waved his hand at the soldiers, and they all opened fire on the crowd of doctors, cutting them down in a hail of gunfire before any of them realized what was going on.
'The information the researchers have gathered must not reach SEELE… NERV will become the UN's enemy once SEELE realizes what I've done, so I'll need to be thorough in clearing this place of anything that SEELE could use against us.' Gendo walked over the corpses of the doctors and researchers while the soldiers moved to execute those who had survived.
'It's possible that the rogue 'Angel' is linked to Second somehow, considering the… coincidental.. timing…' Gendo walked in the large surgery-room and stopped beside the creature on the room's single surgery-table. '...It has not reacted to JSDF engaging it's lesser clones, so it's unlikely it cares about them. However, on the off-chance that it does… I can probably use this to attempt to direct its attention to SEELE instead of me. Demons can see into people's hearts as easily as Angels, but after turning the Key, I am no longer 'human'...'
On the surgery-room's table was an odd, monstrous-looking insectoid thing with large chitinous armor-plates on it's almost human-like arms, and had four long and segmented centipede-like appendages coming out of it's back. The creature's face seemed to be like that of a spider, and on a side-table was a bug-like thing which's carapace bore a vaguely human-like features, somehow looking like a decapitated head or a discarded mask.
The creature had a large hole in it's chest, where Unit-05 had driven it's prog-lance through the monster's chest, slaying it.
…And the dead monster was wearing a kimono-like maid-dress for some bizarre reason.