12:15 pm, NERV Central command bridge
"Evacuations complete. All air traffic has been diverted to Osaka. All JSA units are on standby, and three Susanoo class FCVs, the Tsushima, Musashi, and Kaga, are maintaining low altitude above the city. Evangelion Unit 01 is prepared for launch, pilot is entering now." Maya informed her superior officer with unease.
No one had predicted the appearance of another Seraph, not this quickly. She and the other observation deckers had made bets on when the next one would turn up, with even Lieutenant Aoba, the most cynical of them, not thinking any would come for another month at least. Still, he was the closest to correct, therefore he won. He would likely be shuffling his ten thousand yen tonight with devious glee.
If he was still alive.
If anyone was alive.
"What is the Seraph's current position?" Misato said sternly.
"Enemy is currently at the outskirts of the city. JSA forces are ready to provide assistance, establishing visual contact now." Lieutenant Makoto Hyuga relayed in his shrill tone, text reflecting off his glasses.
The display screen flickered into life showing Shamshel, the 5th Seraph, hovering over the outskirts, eventually coming to a stop near the financial district.
"It's looking for us..." Ritsuko, who was standing to Misato's right, tried to hide her apprehension.
"Then it fights us on our terms." The purplehead growled.
Today was awful.
Right when she'd comforted herself with the thought of the next Seraph not coming for another few years, this bastard had arrived scarcely ten days after its predecessor. And to top it all off, Commander Ikari and Vice Commander Fuyutsuki had disappeared off to Spirits know where, leaving just her and Ritsuko to handle one of the greatest threats humanity would ever face.
It was a shame Rei was still far too injured to realistically pilot Unit 00, but that was the way things were. It may have been a clone, but Rei was still a being of flesh and blood, and could be broken just as easily as anyone else.
"Pilot is in, initiating link!" Maya called out, as on her screen Shinji closed his eyes and tried to expand his mind, just like how he'd been taught a week or so before.
We've hardly had time to train him...
Maya did honestly feel miserable over sending this poor boy out to fight to begin with. Granted it was apparently necessary, but that didn't stop her waking up in the middle of the night covered in sweat soaked sheets, trying to shut out the hypothetical death screams of a child.
"Synch complete, holding at sixty percent. Evangelion Unit 01 is ready for launch."
Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi nodded her head.
Sorry Shinji-kun, we'll just have to train you more for the next one.
"Launch!"
12:20 pm, Tokyo-3, financial district
Where are you, Vooren? Do you honestly think that cowering in the dirt will save you? No...I will flay your wretched form alive for all your people to see!
Shamshel surveyed the city below him, frustration growing in his blood thirsty heart.
He'd come here spoiling for a fight, one in which he would lay the whelp who by some miracle took his elder brother's life, low. A few memories of playing in the Palace gardens when they were young caused rage to join the frustration.
Show yourself! A flair of orange energy rushed forward to an unluckily block of nearby houses, flattening them immediately.
With his anger growing every single second, the Seraph began to set his gaze upon the various forces of the JSA arrayed around the city. At the moment, they were looking like very tempting play things...
But then, he sensed a presence coming towards him from beneath the ground. A presence that radiated power on par with his own.
Finally.
If he could have, the Divine Heir would have smiled. And it would have grown broader the moment Evangelion Unit 01 arose from the ground in all its purple and white glory.
Impressive...but that horn is somewhat ridiculous. Oh well, it matters not. Your corpse will be a fine gift to throw at my Father's feet, ridiculous or otherwise.
Breath...breath...you can do this. Shinji gently inhaled and exhaled with his eyes closed, before opening them. He felt like shifting uncomfortably in this new thing he was forced to wear called a plug suit.
Granted the colours of white and purple went together well to his eyes, but the skin tight and rubbery suit was rather itchy. However, showing an unusual amount of self control, he fought back the urge to scratch.
"Shinji-kun, we've provided you with a pallet rifle. Expand your A-T field then fill him up with lead." Misato added in a semi-serious manner, her expression on the video link being similar.
Expand A-T field and kill it.
"Ryokai!" Shinji responded before gripping the eighty feet long rapid fire WMD as tightly as he could.
He did hear the command, but it seemed his body hadn't. For the moment he set his eyes upon Shamshel, sheer terror gripped his heart.
Something felt different about this one. Shinji felt this thing had no concept of honour or decency, and its only wish was to kill him as messily and brutally as possible. And its gaze...its silent, unnerving, unmoving, and uncaring gaze, sent shivers down the young man's weak spine.
Instinctively, he levelled the pallet rifle at his foe and squeezed the trigger.
"Shinji-kun what are you doing!? Your rounds won't have any effect..." Misato's words came too late, for he'd used up all his ammunition, his fingers frantically squeezing the trigger to no effect, producing an unending clicking noise in the entry plug.
He could no longer see the Seraph, with it being shrouded in smoke. But not for long.
Well wasn't that anti climactic.
Gale force winds shredded the visual obstruction, as Shamshel expanded his A-T field. His power knocking down a few buildings as if they were but houses of cards, the Seraph would have narrowed his eyes if he was capable, upon gazing at the fool who dared challenge him.
By command of the Lord of Ash, and Sovereign of the Divine, I have come to claim your miserable life and subjugate your world. Whether you resist or not is irrelevant to the matter. Make peace with whatever Gods you worship, for even they shall not save you from my wrath. For I am Shamshel, second Heir of my father's realm, destroyer of the last free cities, ender of Fleilan civilisation, and the last thing your pathetic eyes shall ever witness!
He reared himself up to full height, tendrils of energy flicking through the air as orange lightening crackled around his form. His great shadow covered Unit 01, and what seemed like the world, in darkness.
Now...have at you, Voor scum!
Shinji stared at the thing which towered over him, sweat trickling down his forehead and cheeks. Although the liquid going down his cheeks, was far too cold to be sweat...
You idiot, you coward! Of course you could never do this, a pathetic little shit like you doing something useful is impossible!
"Shinji-kun we've put up another rifle for you. Take it now!"
Somehow managing to overcome his terror, and forcing the Eva to move towards the indicator on his hud, he started breathing again.
Get the next one, try again, this isn't over yet...
The Eva was fast, its powerful muscles being something he could feel. And considering how small he usually felt, he rather enjoyed the sensation of such strength and power. Strength and power the likes of which could level the Himalayas.
The rifle came into sight after only five seconds of running, which caused Shinji to breath a sigh of relief.
And then a beam of A-T field energy whistled past his ear and struck the rifle, igniting its ammunition and ripping the area it was located in apart.
Ranged weaponry? Those are the weapons of cowards, little Voor, I expected more from Sachiel's murderer. Nevertheless, the playing field is level now, and I have given you ample time to make the first move. So...shall we begin?
Shinji barely had time to turn around before the tendril whipped into his face. Feeling a searing sensation on his cheek as yet another burn mark was made on Unit 01's faceplate, he screamed as it felt like his skin was boiling.
And the sheer force of it knocked the Eva clean off its feet.
"Shinji-kun withdraw! The JSA will cover you!" Misato frantically barked, as yet another combat situation with the Seraphim went wrong.
Unlike his situation with the first Seraph, Shinji managed to make the Eva move by will alone. Scrambling backwards, it seemed like the monster was leering at him as it followed, swishing its tendrils of energy through the air, not even trying to hit him as if it were flexing its muscles. Eventually gaining enough traction to stand up, whilst the JSA's bombardment from both ground and air impacted harmlessly on Shamshel's A-T field, he urged Unit 01 into a run, only to feel his ankle bubble and boil as the Seraph wrapped a tendril around it, burning into his calf.
Voor...your lack of honour is astonishing. The Divine would have laughed, as through his grip on the Eva's ankle, he lifted it off the floor, letting it dangle for a few moments, before slamming it back into the ground.
He repeated this act of sadism again and again whilst the JSA pounded him with all their might.
To no avail.
Meanwhile, within this distracting force, the Akuma kept belching smoke and fire at a phenomenal rate like the rest of the Tokyo-3 garrison, the men of this army being aware of what was at stake.
And the crew of the Akuma, knowing well just how successful they'd be.
"Why do we even fucking bother!" Eiji yelled with despair upon seeing round after round harmlessly impact Shamshel's A-T field. Only explosions and flashes of orange lightning where indication they'd hit it.
"Because orders are orders! We've been told to advance and that's it." Kiyoshi grimaced.
"And that did us a whole lot of fucking good last time didn't it!?"
Seiichi blocked them both out, thinking only of how good his day had been before the alarms echoed across the city. He'd just been sitting in a nice cafe with his girlfriend, enjoying what precious little time he had with her. And then this fucking thing decided to show up.
The Yoroi type 2 battle tank, along with another hundred of its brethren, rumbled forward into their capital city, their powerful rail guns blasting away at Shamshel, in a desperate attempt to acquire its attention. However, it seemed the Divine Heir did not feel like obliging them.
Thousands of men could only watch in horror, as the Seraph, having appeared to exhausted all enjoyment from breaking Shinji's nose, lifted mankind's mightiest weapon into the air and tossed it into the nearby hills like a ragdoll.
"Heavens..."
12:19 pm, just outside shelter 59...
Toji knew this was a horrible idea.
From the moment Kensuke had asked to speak with him about something, the jock had foreseen the suggestion of a terrible plan that could get them killed. And still he'd gone along with it, like an idiot.
So they'd slipped out of their bunker, right under the soon to be furious class rep's freckled nose. Now having witnessed the ongoing battle with his own eyes, he'd quickly felt his courage collapse.
The Seraph had tossed the purple titan which had risen so majestically from the ground like a rag doll, whilst utterly ignoring the combined fire of the Tokyo-3 defences. But of course Kensuke, being the military nut that he was, had been enjoying every second of it, gawking through his camera at the chaos unfolding before him.
Why the bespectacled wimp would ever want to be a soldier, Toji didn't know. And probably never would, for even his joyous expression had faded away the moment they beheld Unit 01 being flung towards them.
His mouth fell open, whilst Toji made a sort of strangled scream, half shriek of terror, half cursing his best friend's curiosity. But to be fair, had Pilot Shinji Ikari fallen in battle that day, no shelter would save them from the Seraph's triumph.
The Eva slammed into the hill, making the very earth beneath the boys shake as if struck by a meteor, its gargantuan arm only just missing them.
With the dust having settled, Kensuke started making noises of awe as he tried to get as much footage of the giant robot as possible, whilst Toji let loose a few shaken laughs of joy, as he punched his fists in the air whilst declaring he was alive.
That stopped when the shadow of an impossibly ancient Prince, soaked in the blood of thousands, blotted out the sun over them all.
You are nothing before me, Voor!
And with that, Shamshel set upon Unit 01 with what can only be described as venomous brutality.
Oh Spirits...oh Spirits... Shinji's subconscious muttered as every single single one of his instincts begged for him to bolt. His face felt even worse than it had earlier, when that "Toji" boy had beaten him to a pulp. In his panicked state, he blocked out Misato's orders as he could not take his gaze off the advancing Seraph.
However, unlike his previous fight, he would not wait for death to come and claim him.
As the tendrils rushed forward to slice him into sizzling pieces, he seized both of them with his hands, purple armour melting as he howled in pain but resolutely refused to let go, with the sheer strength of the Seraph making his arms burn with exertion.
You will be deafened by your own screams. I shall see to that...
Shamshel attempted to move his tendrils outwards, hoping to pull his opponent's arms off. But to his surprise, he found the Eva to be about as strong as himself.
Shinji was barely holding onto consciousness at this point, so great was his pain. His mouth was open in a silent scream, as he thrashed around in an attempt to get the Seraph off him, only to receive yet another slash across the face for his trouble.
With his head knocked onto its side, hissing in pain, the meek young man breathed hard for a few moments, his eyes clamped shut. Through great effort, he eventually reopened them...only to see two students with whom he was all too familiar, gawking at him.
Oh you have got to be kidding me!
They were directly next to him, in so close a proximity it was likely he'd crush them if he tried to fight off the Seraph.
I am not killing anyone else
Painful memories of what had become of three hundred innocent people came to mind. And thus he was stuck between getting eviscerated by a sadistic eldritch abomination, and being responsible for the deaths of two more innocents.
12:22 pm, NERV Central command bridge
What the hell are they doing out of their bunker!?
Misato's subconscious raged as she beheld the two students staring uselessly at the fight unfolding in front of them. Preventing mankind's ultimate weapon from fighting back for fear of hurting them.
Why can't anything go to plan just for once? Her eyebrows narrowed as her folded arms tightened.
She'd seen worse than this, much worse. She would not lose control, she would make do with what she had. As was to be expected of an Impact survivor.
"Link us into the JSA battle chatter. I want to speak to whoever is in command of those Sky ships." She commanded.
"Yes ma'am, doing it now!" Makato obeyed.
In a few moments, contact was established with the flagship of the battle group, HIJMS Tsushima, as its mighty main battery kept pounding their target. The video link showed a fifty something year old man, with greying dark red hair and beard.
"This is Lieutenant Colonel Misato Katsuragi, NERV's Combat Operations Director, to whom am I speaking?"
"Captain Otamo Kirishima of the HIJMS Tsushima at your service. What do you need Lieutenant Colonel?" The Captain said in a gruff and hardened voice. Unsurprising from a veteran of Hoyo strait.
"We need you and your ships to concentrate your fire on one area, if you do that you might have an effect on the damn thing. We're sending you target coordinates now." The purplehead nodded at her subordinates.
The designated area picked was the Serpah's back. Perhaps they might catch it by surprise and even kill it, or at the very least distract it? She tried to cling to such notions as these, but one quick look at her for today only subordinate, told her she was alone in that department. But Ritsuko had always been a pessimist, so it wasn't anything unusual.
There was only static for a while, before the Captain got back to them.
"Coordinates received. Firing at will!"
12:25 pm, just outside shelter 59...
The armament of a Susanoo class FCV is among the most formidable on the planet. Two massive rail guns, which unleashed pallet rounds that could tear through mountains, and obliterate incoming meteors. Four bow mounted missile launchers, coupled with another two situated just behind the bridge. Twelve, six-inch anti aircraft turrets, along with another twelve Anti Aircraft missile emplacements. Three N2 mines. A built into the bow positron cannon. And finally a compliment of fifty Kaze class VTOLs, all being of the fighter bomber variant.
Any other foe would have crumbled before the might of the flying fortresses.
But not Shamshel.
Indeed, the only effect this mighty bombardment had, one which would have ground the world's greatest cities into dust, was the Seraph's A-T field being slightly dented, causing the strange being in question mild annoyance.
Wait for your turn, Vooren, I shall deal with you shortly.
He ignored them, as his confusion grew over why his opponent was simply trying to hold him in place instead of fighting back.
A few moments ago, the destroyer of the last free cities thought the purple demon was buying time for its cowardly comrades to attack him in his blind spot. But now, Shamshel thought there may be another reason for this lack of resistance. Having firmly pinned his opponent to the ground, despite the Eva's struggling, the Seraph began to take more notice of his surroundings.
And they made him very angry indeed.
Two little whelps sat beside the Eva's head, not moving through either fear or stupidity. His foe was not resisting out of fear of striking them. In short, they were denying him the fight he wanted.
Fear or stupidity...it mattered not what controlled their actions. They'd die for it nonetheless.
Shall I rid us of these distractions? The tendrils surged towards Kensuke and Toji, with a mind to rip them limb from limb, with only Shinji holding on for dear life preventing them from being spattered across the surface of that hill.
"Oh no you don't!" The Eva pilot hissed in an uncharacteristically aggressive manner. Why he felt a desire to protect these people, one of whom was beating the snot out of him mere hours ago, was beyond him.
"Shinji-kun, eject your plug."
"W-what?"
"Eject your plug, and get the civilians on board. They have got nowhere to go and they are in the way. Now do it."
It took a few moments for the command to click in his head, but eventually Shinji started pressing the necessary buttons, and his plug slid out of Unit 01's back, not detaching but hanging out. Whilst the Eva held his enemy in place, he opened the side hatch and stared directly into the confused and frightened eyes of his fellow students.
"Get in!"
No response other than empty eyes.
"Get in you stupid fuckers!" Even he was taken aback by that sudden outburst. Perhaps it was frustration with them, or just the sheer amount of stress he'd had to deal with that day.
But it appeared to do the trick. The two started moving, and eventually managed to get into the plug with Shinji having to haul them in by himself. With his not very considerable strength.
These events unfolded while the Seraph looked on in a stunned manner.
A child? Sachiel, my brother, was felled by a child..?
The plug slotted back into the Eva's spine, a sudden barrier of orange lightening flashing into existence, creating a far greater force for the bloodthirsty Heir to try and overwhelm. The battle was not even near one sided anymore.
A child is doing this!?
Shamshel raged for a while at this injustice. That the gods had ordained for a pathetic child to be his opponent, and for said child to have been the murderer of his brother. But the Heir comforted himself.
The screams of children ripped from their mother's arms have always entertained me. But for your anguished last cries...I shall laugh.
Within the purple behemoth, Shinji desperately tried to keep his attention on the here and now, as his cockpit's other two inhabitants were making a great deal of noise. But it wasn't just the geek's babbling over his camera getting wet, or the jock freaking out over being able to breathe liquid.
He could understand those.
The real noise however...was like it didn't exist. Like it was a furious tidal wave of whispers. Weird words fluttered around in his head, such as Mother, or Sakura, before a sentence formed.
I'm scared.
Now every single one of his feelings were screaming at the boy to run, but he ignored them.
I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away...
Slowly but surely, Shinji pushed against the Seraph, his arms shaking but undeniably pressing forward, angling his A-T field in such a manner it directly contended with that of his foe. Two walls of orange lightening surged and clashed together, sending sparks of energy flying outwards, vaporising chunks of hills and buildings. And then, so focused on overwhelming his enemy, Shamshel failed to take his rear into account.
A barrage of armour piercing high explosive pallet shells, slammed into his back. The Seraph's screech of rage and pain was a haunting alien howl that echoed across the city, causing soldiers to soil themselves, and civilians in their shelters far below to shiver.
Filth!
His hate, his rage, his cruelty, and his malice came forth from his black heart, as Shamshel quickly withdrew his left tendril from Unit 01's hand, and before the armoured creature could react, used all his strength to wrap his tendril around the Eva's right hand, and lashed outwards.
Being taken by surprise, Shinji found himself being violently thrown aside with what felt like a hot iron only now uncurling from his hand. He stopped rolling after a few moments, managing to regain control of the Eva and attempting to stand, whilst his companions grunted and hissed in pain as they were thrown around.
"Sorry!" He called out, not quite sure why as there was little he could do about his passengers discomfort, before a bright orange light flashed in his direction, originating from his foe.
Oh Spirits...I've seen that before. Shit!
And thus a blast of pure power enveloped Unit 01, with Shinji only just being quick enough to throw all his effort into his A-T field, before the Eva was buried into yet another unfortunate hill. It seemed the Seraph War had a special prejudice against the city and surrounding landscape of Tokyo-3.
With the whelp out of the way, to be dealt with later at his pleasure, Shamshel turned to face the forces of the Japanese State Army and sneered.
You wish for your deaths to be violent? So be it. The only true question is which one of you dies first!
Stars were in his eyes, due to how badly he'd banged his head. A small amount of blood was even trickling from his nose, on top of all the minor burn marks he'd sustained due to the nature of his connection to the god machine. His slumped over form breathed shakily. At least until a hand was laid upon his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Said Toji, with a look of concern.
The timing of the Shinji's shrieks of pain had always coincided with whenever the Seraph landed a blow on them, leading the jock to one conclusion.
You...feel its pain? Spirits...what must that be like?
Lifting his head up, both of Unit 01's hitch-hikers could now see the red liquid flowing from their driver's nostril, and his dazed expression.
"I-I'm okay..." He whispered painfully before fully engaging his concentration on the situation at hand.
The Seraph...where is it?
He didn't have to look very hard. Shamshel ripped into the frantically firing JSA forces like a tornado of death. With every swish or slash of his tendrils, dozens died.
And he relished in their screams.
Ah the carnage of battle, its glory can never be surpassed!
To the men of the JSA, it was a repeat of the battle with Sachiel.
Every single round harmlessly impacted the Seraph's A-T field. The soldiers of Japan, as brave as they were, lay helpless before the might of a Divine Heir. And they would pay for their doubtlessly courageous sacrifice with their lives.
"Spirits..." Kensuke muttered in a horrified tone, as Shinji's mind returned to the fires of Fukuyama some twelve years before.
"Save yourself kid! Run, just fucking run!" A soldier calls out, before his head explodes from the impact of a bullet.
Gunfire, gunfire all around him. The sky is filled with smoke yet is somehow a hellish orange colour. Everything is burning, everything is dying.
But the four year old boy does as he is told and runs as fast as his little legs will carry him. So focused on fleeing, he does not notice the Chinese soldier level his weapon at him, nor said trooper's commanding officer grabbing the barrel and pulling just as the shot is fired.
The orphaned child finds a hole to hide in, covered in debris, and squeezes in, sobbing uncontrollably.
He hid there for many hours, before the sound of his shelter being pulled apart caused him to curl into an even tighter ball.
Light shines through a crack upon him, swiftly blocked out by the shadow of a tall, crouched man. A man in blue uniform and grey armour.
"Holy shit..." He mutters in surprise before placing a hand on the child's shoulder. The brown haired boy shrinks away, before the soldier cups his chin and forces eye contact.
"Hey...it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you, you're safe now." The soldier smiles as he gently takes Shinji's hand and begins to pull him onto his stubby legs.
The boy in question experiencing the first act of true kindness shown to him since the death of his mother...
"Shinji-kun...retreat."
The boy's brain had images of blue coated men dying in their droves around him seared into it.
"There's an elevator half a mile to your south. Take it, and we'll figure this out in Central."
"B-b-but..."
"That's an order Pilot."
12:27 pm, NERV Central command bridge
"Why is it doing that?" Ritsuko said out aloud, trying to figure out the Seraph's strategy.
You're supposed to home in on NERV central, or an Eva, not randomly attack forces which can't even hurt you. Is it...angry?
"Well lucky us, it's interested in something else. Shinji-kun get back here right now!" Misato felt her temper rise, as the Eva lay on the ground unmoving, its gaze fixed on the rampaging enemy.
Yes I know, we're letting them die. But the Eva takes priority, Shinji-kun, you must understand that.
As far as she was concerned, they only had two priorities now, all thoughts of victory having long since vanished. Withdraw the Eva, and damage control. For whilst the ground forces were doomed, the air fleet could still get away.
"Captain Kirishima withdraw. You can't do anymore." She advised.
Otamo looked deeply conflicted for a moment, as he watched his comrades die in their droves.
"Forgive me, Katsuragi-san, I don't think we can do that."
"What?" Misato felt her heart drop into her shoes.
"We are soldiers of Japan, we have already suffered the shame of being driven from our own capital city before, we will not endure the like again. Good luck, Lieutenant Colonel, Nippon Banzai." The connection cut.
A few of the bridge crew, the Japanese ones in particular, gave a sombre bow of their heads before continuing work.
12:28 pm, Tokyo-3 airspace, the FCV HIJMS Tsushima.
Otoma turned to face the crew of his command bridge and sighed sadly, whilst rubbing his grey bristle.
"Gentlemen, I don't find within myself the strength to retreat. I will attempt to attack the enemy in whatever way I can to give speed to the retreat of our brothers on the ground. Get to your life pods, it has been an honour."
It was deathly silent for a while, until one of his men, a young ensign, punched his fist in the air and bellowed "I go with Captain Kirishima!"
And then the rest of his crew did the same.
"As do we!" Came the Captain of the HIJMS Musashi, followed by a "seconded" from the Kaga.
A single tear trickled down his wrinkled old cheek, before Kirishima wiped it away.
"Very well." He managed a grizzled smile. "The Tsushima will now commit to a general attack on whatever Spirits forsaken monstrosity resides down there. We will get its attention and cover the retreat of our comrades! Nippon Banzai!"
"Nippon Banzai!" His crew screamed as the entire flotilla roared towards their foe.
The first few seconds of the attack went by in silence, as tracer fire arced towards the Seraph, and aircraft swarmed around it. And then one of the other senior officers took off his cap and filled his lungs with air.
"Japan our home of many isles. Surrounded by the crystal sea!"
Soon enough, the rest of the men joined in with him.
"Red rising sun, let your rays illuminate the entire blue sky!"
Back on the ground...
The Akuma crew, and many other troopers of the Tokyo-3 garrison, looked up at the sky ships with awe.
It seemed the air force wanted to lend a hand today. And it couldn't have been more appreciated, as over a quarter of their group had already been obliterated by the furious Seraph.
"Keep firing, don't stop!" Kiyoshi bellowed as the Akuma rumbled backwards with the Seraph in hot pursuit, the lead tank of their regiment being split in half by a tendril.
"I'd thought we'd focus more on running the fuck away, sergeant-" Eiji stopped mid snark. As over the radio, the voices of men and women could be heard.
"Cherry blossoms fall from heaven, for all who are brave enough! The soldiers of Japan know not retreat, for we would rather perish with our honour! So forwards march as one!"
It was Akai Asahi, the military march of the JSA.
The Seraph, clearly being annoyed by the Tsushima, swiped a tendril at the great ship, slicing off one of its rear wings.
The men and women of the Tokyo-3 garrison's voices tearfully joined those of the Tsushima, knowing full well what would happen next.
"Our lives for our beloved Japan!"
Shamshel lashed out again, after being struck with a futile salvo of pallet rounds, cutting through the Tsushima's weakened A-T field and armour plating, striking the mighty sky ship's primary S2 reactor.
"All reactors have gone critical, their overloading. Nippon Banzai!" A Lieutenant yelled, whilst Otoma closed his old and tired eyes.
A brief image came to mind, one of a fifteen year old girl with short, dark red hair running towards him, laughing as she embraced her father with all her worth.
Forgive me, Mana.
And thus the two hundred metre long warship, along with its crew of a thousand brave servicemen, were vaporised in an instant. And a further one hundred thousand of their comrades, wept at their sorry sacrifice.
12:29 pm, what's left of some random hill...
The explosion was blinding, as was to be expected of an S2 reactor igniting.
But he couldn't look away, none of them could.
There was no chance any of them survived. Another thousand people had died because of his cowardice.
Shinji's brain had frozen in the face of the carnage unfolding before him. Armoured vehicles flew threw the air, some even striking the occasional unfortunate aircraft. Individual human beings were splattered across the city in a gory work of art on the Seraph's part.
There was nothing the Japanese State Army could do to stop the enemy, nothing whatsoever. An N2 strike could slow the thing down, but it was too far into the city centre. A strike there would kill every last soul in Tokyo-3.
There was no point resisting. And yet they refused to retreat.
The men in blue were dying to save his wretched life again.
Just like Fukuyama...
"Shinji-kun. Retreat." Misato's tone became dangerous.
"But...all those people..."
"They're expendable, the Eva isn't. Now do as I say soldier."
He sat there, unmoving, horrified by such a callous disregard of human life, especially from someone he saw as kind. No words or retort came to mind, only silence.
The plug's other two occupants however, had looks of total revulsion upon their young faces. Retreat, even defeat itself, wasn't in the nature of the Japanese people to begin with, but this?
Leaving their own countrymen, and the family members hiding in the shelters below the city, to save their own wretched skin was unacceptable.
I wonder if he thinks like that though? Kensuke's subconscious murmured as he could see the look of anguish on Shinji's face, as he tried to come to a decision.
"Pilot I am ordering you to retreat! Do it!"
But the boy in question couldn't hear her. All he could see were the tanks of the Tokyo-3 garrison resolutely refusing to fall back. And the faces of the men who'd given their lives to save his own pathetic one all those years ago.
Not again...not again...not again!
His guardian was still yelling at him to do as he was told, but he wasn't in the mood now. His countrymen were being massacred and they needed his help.
Not one more. His subconscious found itself growling.
Slowly but surely pushing a button that cut Misato's video link, he sat back in his seat, breathing deeply.
"I'm sorry, I can't leave them."
Kensuke forced a smile.
"It's okay, you do what you have to do."
"We're right behind you." Toji added in a serious manner. Most of the hatred he had for this boy had melted away now, having seen his anguish and fear in combat. And how he baulked at the mere thought of not trying to stop the enemy with a snow ball's chance in hell. If this was to be their end, then he wouldn't let this kid think he was dying alone.
I'm sorry, Sakura.
Urging Unit 01 to rise, Shinji felt the titan's strength coursing through him, its ancient wrath almost intoxicating.
But he had a job to do.
A quick flashback to an earlier simulation test gave him an idea. The test where he'd been shown the existence of the progressive knife, an actual blade made of some alloy he didn't understand, which was coated in positronic energy. A knife which resided in the Eva's back.
Stab it to death with that, sounds good...
"Voice command, Shinji Ikari. Deploy prog knife!" He'd imagined these words would come out as controlled and authoritative, but of course owing to his nature, something that resembled a shriek escaped his lips.
The Eva's back slid open, and now his weapon was to hand.
The pain in his chest and on his hands, the pain which had so distracted him before, faded away when he beheld the Seraph grasp another Sky ship.
Not one more, you bastard!
Screaming some sort of battle cry in his shrill voice, he thundered forward, the Earth itself shaking before the Eva's wrath. Had he been in the correct frame of mind, Shinji may have enjoyed the feeling of such power, as he'd possessed hardly any of it for the majority of his life. But he was too angry for that.
Shamshel felt the thunder in the ground, and sighed in irritation.
Can you not wait for your turn, Voor? I was enjoying myself-
Tossing the HIJMS Musashi aside, causing the mighty vessel to impact and demolish a large hill, he swung round to face the Eva, tendrils swishing through the air, hoping to slice off the purple monster's head. Despite them catching Unit 01 in the face, Shinji stormed ahead, slamming his right shoulder into the Seraph's A-T field and smashing straight through, despite some resistance.
The Divine Heir barely had time to react before the full force of the Eva's size and weight, coupled with its master's wrath, collided with him, bowling Shamshel off his metaphorical feet.
You...you didn't have strength such as this before!?
In those few precious moments, Shinji noticed the red jewel in what could be called his foe's chest area.
His target had finally been acquired.
The boy planted his left hand into the Seraph's face, keeping it firmly pressed into the ground, before moving to strike with his blade.
But the destroyer of the last free cities would not die so easily.
Swishing upwards, Shamshel's energy tendrils cut a great X shape in the Eva's chest armour, eliciting a howl of pain from his foe, followed by a solid wall of orange lightening throwing Shinji off him, which gave the blood thirsty Heir nothing but ecstasy. Not that it dampened his rage.
I am Heir Shamshel! Sovereign Netzach's second eldest, and you will not humiliate me, brat!
Quickly scrambling back to his feet, the young Pilot's cerulean gaze fixed on his opponent, whom having risen up to its full height, produced a horrifying alien battle screech.
Shinji however, was undeterred.
Curling both his hands around his knife, Unit 01 thundered forward, with the young defender of humanity gripping his control sticks with stone cold determination upon his face, a few trickles of water issuing forth from his eyes. For although resolved, he was still afraid.
Thrusting one of his energy whips forward into the Eva, Shamshel sneered as it staggered. And then watched in shock as it rose again, somehow even more furious than before.
Why will you not die!?
Despite his howl of agony, with even his companions gritting their teeth as they felt like they'd been stung by a bee on the chest, Shinji didn't stop for anything, with even the Seraph's prepared and readjusted A-T field being nothing but a temporary barrier. To Shamshel's surprise, despite knowing his opponent was coming and having time to prepare his own wall of light, Unit 01 broke through it like a sword through bone, its knife directed at his heart.
The Seraph attempted to move back, but Shinji was too quick. His blade sank into the creature of eldritch lore's S2 core.
I-I-Impossible... He tried to recoil from both shock and pain, as royal blue blood trickled down the metal blade, but Unit 01 clasping its left hand around the Heir's throat put an end to that.
I am Shamshel! I...will...not...die!
Another tendril surged forward and struck Unit 01 in the chest, right next to where the other tendril resided.
And then Shamshel forced them outward, despite the toughness of the Eva's hide and armour. Although not being able to immediately rip him open, a huge gash was slowly rent in Shinji's armour, accompanied with the screeching of torn metal, and the sound of sizzling flesh.
Hissing in agony, causing instinct to kick in, the boy twisted his knife further and further into the red jewel. The tearing sensation in his chest slowly desisting in its spread.
Die...die...die...suffer...squeal... Shamshel's strength began to fade faster than that of his enemy, as his efforts to rip the Eva in half stopped.
D-defeat? How is this...possible? How? The S2 core cracked open, blue blood issuing forth from it like a flood.
You're inferior...you can't win...you're all weak cowards! How did I lose? How am I...dying?
Despite raging against the dying of his light, even Shamshel succumbed to the darkness of death. One thought, whispering in his mind.
R-Ramiel...my beautiful sister...they are stronger than we think...please be safe...
Shinji violently but swiftly withdrew his blade from the Seraph, leaving it upright for a micro-second, only to eventually crumple over, the tendrils which had tortured the Eva pilot slipping out of his wound. Like their wielder, they would never move again.
And thus Heir Shamshel, conqueror of the last Fleilan cities, commander of the red band, finally died.
Accompanied by the thunderous cheers of one hundred thousand men.
12:45 pm, NERV Central command bridge
"Plug has been ejected. Pilot's retrieval has begun." Maya slumped back in her seat, exhaling loudly. It would take another couple of hours to wrap everything up with putting the Eva back in its cage, diagnostics to run, and sorting out all the paperwork involved with those two stupid boys they'd dropped at the police station, but she'd be home soon enough.
Time does fly when you're doing the best job in the world after all.
What...a day...
She stretched her fingers, hearing the satisfying clicks of them being put back into place. Whilst she did this, Maya did her best to ignore her temporary Commander's clear anger.
Misato's expression for the past fifteen minutes could only be described as fuming. Granted, it had momentarily looked like even she'd been impressed by Shinji's bravery, but that had been brief.
"Make sure Pilot Ikari stays in the locker room. I want a word with him." She swung around and marched off, purple hair billowing behind her.
Ritsuko watched her go with a sigh.
Seriously Misato-chan, he's sixteen years old. You can't expect him to be a soldier just like that. And besides...
Unseen by anyone, the faux blonde's mouth curled into a small smile.
In his position, you would have done exactly the same thing.
Turning back around, she saw that most of the staff had watched the combat director's storming off with either vague amusement or interest.
"Did you anyone tell you to stop working?" She raised an eyebrow.
"No, Sub Commander!"
"Um, Sub commander Akagi?" Maya called out.
"Yes, Lieutenant Ibuki, what is it?" .
"Apparently Commander Ikari is on his way back...and he wants a debrief..." She had to stop herself bursting into laughter as her idol's expression dropped.
Fuck.
12:50 pm,Pilot locker rooms,
After quickly showering off the revolting orange substance known as LCL, Shinji had changed out of his itchy plug suit and slipped back into what he came here with.
His school uniform.
As warm as it was, anything was better than the plug suit. Having tied his shoe laces up, he sat down on one of the many benches and breathed deeply, bracing for what was to come.
Upon leaving his plug, one of the maintenance crew had told him the "Lieutenant Colonel" wanted a word with him. He may have been socially awkward, but he knew what that meant.
Punishment.
Resigned to whatever physical blow was to be landed upon him, he stayed put, awaiting his guardian's fury. But at heart he wasn't afraid for once. Because it felt like he'd done the right thing.
Quite an accomplishment for me I suppose...
Pounding footsteps could be heard approaching him, causing Shinji to end his self reflection. Keeping his eyes firmly on the floor, he saw Misato's shadow be cast over him, her arms folded.
"What the hell happened out there?"
He remained silent, reckoning from experience this was a rhetorical question. And answering rhetorical questions usually ended up with a black eye.
Although as ever when it came to social things, he was somewhat wrong.
She sighed in exasperation.
"Do you think this is a game? That you can just do whatever you want in one of the most expensive pieces of equipment in history? Well I've got news for you, Pilot." Her voice reached a dangerous edge.
"You are a soldier now. You do as you are told, without question. If you were older I'd be putting you under disciplinary action, or even court marshal. But as you are only a boy-" She put special emphasis on that word, indicating his childishness.
"-I'll let it slide. Just this once. But if you ever do something like that again, then you go straight back where you came from. You can forget about us and the Evangelion. Because we do not need someone with that attitude."
It felt like a little part of Shinji's soul snapped at those words.
Of course nobody needs me. How could I have ever thought I was anything other than worthless...
He slowly angled his gaze up at her, fighting back the pathetic tears which threatened to spill forth.
"I was just trying..."
To do the right thing.
"Do what!? Get yourself killed!? Get mankind's last hope wrecked whilst you do it!? Tell me, Pilot Ikari, what were you trying to do!? Prove that you won't just runaway, or that you'll have some sort of mental breakdown during combat!? Tell me!"
Shinji felt like trembling for a bit, but managed to get it under control.
"I-I-I'm..."
Sorry.
"Stop babbling like a child. You are sixteen years old so act like it!" The purplehead's folded arms somehow managed to become even tighter, as her brown eyes became narrower. The wimpy boy stared at them for a little while, weak blue quailing before harsh brown. At that point, he decided to cut loose. He would probably have more success with that than what he was already doing.
"What was I meant to do? J-J-Just...just leave them there?"
"So that's it?" Misato tiredly exhaled and shook her head.
"They were soldiers of Japan, Shinji-kun. Giving their lives for their country is basically in the job description." The tightness of her folded arms relaxed a little, as she slowly realised the anguish her charge was in.
"They were braver than me..." Misato's narrowed eyebrows completely disappeared as tears started rolling down her charges' cheeks.
"They should have been the ones to live, not me! I'm a worthless coward who keeps getting people killed because he's an idiot...they already died for me twelve years ago...at Fukuyama...I left them to die, I couldn't do it again..." His shoulders and head slumped and the tears rolled freely, as he'd wanted to let them for a while now.
"I have a mountain of failures on my shoulders already Katsuragi-san. I don't need...or want, anymore."
"But what if the Seraph had killed you? What then?" Her voice became a little more gentle.
"There would not be a single thing on this planet which could stop a Seraph. It would kill us all. You're an Eva pilot, Shinji-kun, I don't care what you think about yourself, you are not expendable." She put a hand on his shoulder, causing the boy to look back up at her.
"But all those people...those soldiers today...those civilians I crushed to death...were they expendable?"
Misato took a few moments to answer, a little part of her soul plummeting into her shoes over the mere fact he knew about that incident with the shelter, and this time she let her heart speak.
"No...they weren't. The Evangelion had to take priority, but you're right. There's no such thing as expendable...heh, war's a horrible thing isn't it?" She gently pulled the sobbing teen onto his feet and into an embrace he didn't resist.
Yes he'd still been insubordinate.
Yes he'd very nearly got them all killed.
Yes he'd gotten her worried out of her mind.
But even if it was the wrong thing to do, as he probably knew in her eyes, it was at least done for the right reasons.
"I-I-I know that I should follow orders. I know I'm a soldier now. But...a soldier's job is to protect his people right? If I didn't do that...wouldn't I be failing in my duty?"
Misato honestly didn't know what to say. Granted there were probably some arguments she could put forward against that ideology, but Shinji was certainly not in the right place for it now.
To hell with telling him off...
"The ship that went down...the one I didn't let the Seraph rip apart...they all died didn't they?" He murmured quietly, knowing in his heart that must be the case.
"No. The Musashi took some structural damage and there were a hundred or so injured but no fatalities. You saved their lives, Shinji-kun." Her words were met with silence, as the mousey haired boy silently pondered the significance of those words.
"Shall we go home?"
"Yes please."