Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred;

Therefore, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast.

And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.

Ezekiel 25:15-17, King James Version

IX: Frontal Assault

In the dank tunnels beneath the outskirts of the city of Tokyo-3, a group of 30 fully armed and armored JSSDF troopers crept though ankle deep runoff water. The smell wasn't as horrid as they were expecting as much of the water was from the rain draining from the city. With the climate of the world shifting, nightly rainstorms had become a regular occurrence, and last night it rained quite heavily. Tashima, for one however was thankful the tunnels were not as inundated as they were expecting them to be.

They had a very simple mission, attempt to assassinate a few key members of the Nephilim Leadership, especially "The Priest", in order to cause enough confusion for the few hundred planted JSSDF troopers already in the city to take advantage of the situation. Split up, confused, and without leadership, it was expected the mostly non-lethally powered Nephilim would be easy to round up and capture or kill. Air superiority would be easily taken over the city and even larger numbers of forces could be brought into the city with the opening of the main gates. Tashima expected casualties on his end to be relatively light considering the scope of the battle.

As they got closer to the city itself, they came across something they didn't expect. It seemed that even down here the changes the Nephilim had caused to the nearby city above were visible…

"What the fuck?" one of the members near Tashima whispered as they noted the gothic looking archway that marked the start of the Nephilim influence. Unlike the pale concrete, the dark brown stone that made up the archway appeared to have been shaped by master artisans, designed with miniature window openings as part of their relief. The top of the archway came to a point a mere few inches before the actual ceiling of the tunnel. The stone leading away from the archway faded from the dark brown into more dark grey concrete tones. Beyond the entryway the water continued to flow but looked somehow cleaner than the water that was flowing past them now, with little in the way of refuse.

"They reshaped even this," Tashima observed. "Their power is greater than we anticipated."

"Do we abort?" his second asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Kama," he replied immediately with a slight edge to his voice. "Regardless of what we see here, this is our best and only chance. If we fail now, we likely will never get a better one… at least not without a huge butcher's bill."

"Aye sir," Kama responded. "'Do or die' it is."

Tashima really wished the man hadn't put it quite like that, but his words served their purpose, driving home precisely what he was asking of them without disobedience. This would indeed be 'do or die', and Tashima was prepared for either eventuality.

Grimly, he pressed forward, noting the design of the waterway now appeared more like an underground aqueduct rather than flood control. He could see the floor tiles through the water, each large, covering a three-meter square floor area between the small ledges on either side. The archways continued to appear as they did at the entry, though slightly less detailed. The columns did resemble something closer to gothic archways than any kind of Roman support structure, and the stone was all brown and dark. The tunnels however were just as unlit as one would expect, requiring the use of battery-operated flashlights of varying sizes to continue with any degree of safety.

Upon reaching the first major cross junction, Tashima ordered lights out and everyone switched to night-vision. Now able to see the walls with even more clarity, they noted they were even more like gothic cathedral walls than they were a waterway. Spaces existed to hold old-school wooden torches and each held one, but none were currently lit.

"We should be close to the outer wall of the city now. But this section wasn't on the map," Tashima noted in a whisper to his second.

"Noted," Kama replied, his mask and helm making him even more a faceless henchman than he already was.

Nearly 30 yards later, the group came across a set of stairs up to a platform just under two meters above the surface of the water. No hand holds or rails existed to assist the climb, though thankfully it was short. Believing this must be the way his men slowly and carefully moved up the stairs to the platform. There, a small opening apparently led to a set of stairs going up. Emboldened by the discovery, he sent Kama and two other men ahead to take point. They continued forward with Tashima and the rest trailing just behind.

The silent report of a few silenced gunshots told Tashima that they reached the sentries at the entrance. Easily dispatched, they proceeded to the top of the stairs, and into the early morning air. He paid no heed at all to the bodies that lay in the path, now being pulled aside to let the rest of the team though. The tall buildings in this section of the city blocked the rising sun, but Tashima knew precious little time remained.

The city street head was a lot narrower than he thought it would be and it became obvious to him that the maps could no longer be trusted. The city had changed too much; where there was once tall skyscrapers of glass and steel, now only gothic structures with tinted windows, sweeping buttresses, cross topped pointed towers, and wrought iron fencing in many places now lay. It was an eerie feeling, one that did not sit well with Tashima at all.

They quickly and quietly moved along the street in what they thought was the direction of the Basilica. Suddenly, Tashima stopped as he noted something that seemed odd, but was now painfully obvious; the road was unusually narrow here, almost forcing the team into 2x2 formations as they moved forward, far too close for vehicles to traverse, and he couldn't remember when this began to be.

"Oh… shit…" he whispered as cold realization reached him. His perception had been altered ever so slightly over the last few minutes. Was it a reality bender of some form? An illusionist? It didn't matter now… he signaled the men to prepare for an ambush. But before they could even begin to reorganize in the limited space of the road, the trap was sprung.

Flames, lightning bolts, great spikes of ice, metal and all manner of material were suddenly raining upon them from above and closing form all sides. It was an ambush… they were expected. Diving for what little cover was allowed here, they began to fire back, but no organization was possible… the attempted counterattack was unfocused, in disarray. Men were falling one after another, with no signs they were inflicting casualties in return.

Tashima attempted to order a retreat, but the density of fire picked up as soon as he tried….

Above the streets of Zion, Rei and Hikari watched as the other JSSDF reinforcements within the city broke cover to attempt to rescue Tashima, only to get bogged down in running battles themselves, forcing them to fight for every foot closer to the waylaid assault team.

"You seem unsurprised," Hikari noted as she was held from behind by Rei. Both were still rather threadbare, but unabashed with each other. The smaller girl's hands covered over the pale hands of her girlfriend as they rested at the level of her naval, mere inches from a place she had yet to touch herself more than necessary, let alone allow another to touch. But she didn't dissuade Rei from doing so, even though she knew the girl would not until invited.

"This was expected," Rei softly replied. "Evil men with their evil designs can be predictable. They had only one chance to assault the city directly before our preparations made any further attempts too costly to consider. I would have been far more surprised if they had not attempted this.

Hikari noted the shift in her voice at the end of her explanation from near dismissal to annoyance.

"You're going after Tashima… aren't you." It was less a question and more a statement

"Yes," she replied.

"He's a dangerous man," Hikari pointed out.

"Not as dangerous as me…."

Hikari nodded, knowing with the preparations they had made, Tashima was no theat anymore. Thoughts shifted away from the battle and to more important things.

"I'm going to the safehouse," Hikari replied. "I need to check on my sisters."

Rei nodded. "They're trying to drag the fighting closer to the Basilica. Be careful. The safehouse will be dangerously close to the violence." She kissed Hikari on the neck, eliciting a content sigh from the girl and closed eyes, but a complete lack of embarrassment.

"I will," she replied in little more than a whisper before gently pulling from Rei's grasp to get dressed.

Langxi

The sun had yet to rise in this part of China, but here, close to daybreak, the Mahkai made their advance. It was a host of a similar size to the last, and this time Asuka was not on defense. Tabris readied himself for what was to come.

"Remember," Daquan yelled so all could hear him. "Keep them at spear's length! Do not let them inside the city at any cost! Think of the innocents!"

Summoning his swords, Kaworu launched from the platform into the cool air, he kept low as he approached the host, knowing he would likely have to work fast if he was to prevent disaster. Flipping his left sword in reverse he threw his hand forward and instantly ignited the landscape at the head of the host with a powerful blast of pure white light. The explosion was deafening to those close to it and several warriors were instantly disintegrated in the blast. Before Kaworu could prepare a second, he had to focus on dodging incoming spears. The press of hundreds of smaller AT Fields were enough to overwhelm his immediately.

Much of the Host was already shifting their left flank to move where Kaworu wasn't, heading straight for Langxi. Just as it seemed they were going to clash with the few defenders on the defenses, a wall of flame sprung up around the town causing them to immediately halt. The ones in the back couldn't stop in time, plowing into their fellow warriors and pushing the ones closest to the wall of flames directly into it. The heat so intense they had little time to scream before they were burnt to ashes.

The Makhai leader was less than enthused by this. He tried to move forward only to have to block the incoming blades of Kaworu.

"Another prize soon to be added to my collection," the Leader sneered, as his tongue licked his lips.

"You will not take me," Kaworu replied calmly. "I am a purifier. I am anathema to your corrupted kind."

"Mores the pity," the monster responded. "I suppose I'll have to simply display the remains of your shattered core in my hut instead."

Without another word he pushed forward in a cascade of blades. Constantly spinning, he was able to keep Kaworu off balance. He tried to back-wing to get distance, but the Makhai pushed forward immediately, leaping and slamming into his defenses with four blades at once forcing him down again before relentlessly continuing the assault.

Asuka, still unable to summon her armor stood on the battlements and watched as the Makhai leader fought her beloved.

"He can't win," she noted grimly. "Kaworu is skilled but his skills are no match for a berserker like that."

Realizing she would have to intervene despite her condition, she summoned her greatsword and extended her wings.

"You can't!" Daquan cried. "You couldn't fight him at 100%, what chance do you have now?!"

Asuka ignored him, ignited her wings, and took to the air.

Kaworu struggled to stay ahead of the monster, trying to break from the melee multiple times, but each time he tried, the monster was one step ahead of him. Kaworu tried to back to the left and immediately a pair of blades would slam his defenses, forcing him back to the right again, keeping him directly in front of the monster.

A savage kick sent Kaworu sprawling to the ground, though he kept a grip on his weapons. A quick backflip and backwing sent him away from the follow up and he finally got airborne, only to have a psychic force slam him into the ground again as the monster activated one of his stolen cores. Kaworu managed to get upright in time to block the first two blades but the second nailed him across the chest, corruption burning deep into his flesh instantly.

The monster raised his four blades, ready to strike down and finish him only to have them blocked by a flaming Greatsword.

"The burning one!" the leader delighted. "My ultimate prize!"

Asuka said nothing, her face locked in a look of rage and fury. With not even a grunt, she pushed the Makhai leader backwards, away from the angel. The monster licked his blades again in response and sized up his opponent. She was still weakened from the damage he had inflicted before; her lack of armor told him as much, but her wings were still visible and alight.

"You should have stayed in the village," he grunted. "You were barely my equal before, now you are no match for me at all. I will kill you and consume you core. Your power of fire will be mine!"

Asuka held her blade up, the tip towards heaven and brough it in front of her still pointing up. She cracked her neck and stared directly at the monster as Kaworu scooted away and concentrated on purifying the corruption trying to run rampant though his body.

Tokyo-3

Kensuke stood balanced upon the pinnacle of the Basilica and watched as the JSSDF began to fly several wings of Helicopters towards the city. Ensured they were all coming from the same direction, he decided to take the battle to them and avoid any casualties on the ground. His armor closed over him and he took to the air, again without wings.

Upon seeing the target flying directly for them the men in the choppers panicked, launching a swarm or air-to-air missiles at him. Kensuke didn't even bother moving his hands as his invisible cross blades quickly destroyed all of the incoming fire before they could reach him, or pass him up to cause collateral damage to Zion. Then the closest two choppers exploded as the blades sliced though their fuel tanks and ignited the fuel within. Now the blades were visible as flaming disks of white fire, as they cut a path towards the choppers. A couple tried to shoot them down only to see their shots harmlessly spark and ricochet off of the rapidly spinning blades.

When Kensuke finally reached the targets physically, he produced his katanas and began to down the helicopters by cutting off the tails as he flew past them, sending them spiraling to the ground. The landscape west of Tokyo-3 was now becoming littered with the wreckages of enemy flying machines.

Larger scale ground forces now made an attempt to get closer to the city only to find that the walls surrounding the city itself were far better fortified than previously assumed. The limit of what weapons the matter manipulating Nephilim could field was only limited by their understanding of the technology involved. Able to easily replicate what they came in contact with, the individual towers of the main wall were fortified with 105mm and 120mm cannons along with positions below the main platforms armed with .50 cal machine guns, M-134 Rotary Guns, and Nephilim with other small arms or using their own powers. Ammo was replicated were necessary but much of the ammo and many of the weapons were simply pilfered from the Tokyo-3 JSSDF Armory after the city was taken, or had already existed on the sections of wall originally erected to protect against monster strikes. Combined with energy manipulating Nephilim with enough kick to simulate the impact of a railgun, and even the tanks of the JSSDF were unable to get within effective range to do any real damage to the walls.

They made a rush for the wall anyway, firing as much suppressing fire as possible, but it seemed these modified Gothic walls were designed to hide far more firepower than they could have ever expected. Every few hundred feet of wall that was suppressed was surrounded by many more gun positions that belched all manner of death at the incoming vehicles. Soon the combination of wrecked aircraft and wrecked vehicles slowed the rush to a crawl, and then to an almost complete stop as the JSSDF were bogged down and under fire from multiple positions at all times. Crews abandoned their vehicles and tried to set up some kind of cover only to have their positions targeted and blown apart by heavy cannonade or elemental power.

Soon JSSDF VTOL Aircraft made their run in an attempt to get some kind of damage into the city, only to find that the uppermost towers of the walls were armed with flak launchers and SAM emplacements. Kensuke, being the avid military otaku growing up knew enough about such weaponry that he was able to convey the designs to the Nephilim who were in charge of fortifications. As a result, even high-speed aircraft like this were not getting anywhere near the city. The ones who managed to get close enough were cut down by Kensuke himself and his deadly spinning blades.

On Koru Street in the south end, Tashima watched as Kama finally stopped breathing from the wound he received in combat. Nephilim surrounded him several meters away as Rei approached him. He had become the last member of his team left alive, and the lack of gunfire in the city told him that the planted forces also failed in their mission. He remembered Rei as being Gendo's favorite, and he himself had an unhealthy crush on the then 14 year old girl. Now, when he saw her, he only felt dread.

"Evil men will always be predictable it seems," Rei noted aloud.

"Can it," he shot back. "Just kill me and be done with it."

"I would love to," Rei replied. "All your lecherous looks during the end of the Angel Wars, the fear and pain you caused the Nephilim… but He wants you spared so you may tell the tale of what happened here."

Tashima's face took an angry turn. "You think you're being civil?! You're no better than the Angels! You'd see mankind obliterated from the face of the world!"

"Do you really believe that?" Rei calmly replied. "He has declared this city to be a haven for His people AND those that would live with us in peace. Are we really so evil in your eyes that we must be eliminated?"

"You don't even see the danger you pose," Tashima countered. "Nephilim cause all sorts of havoc when their powers awaken, and most of your people STILL have problems controlling their powers. You'll always be a danger, even to yourselves."

"You fear what you don't understand," Rei noted. "I was afraid when my powers awoke in that café. Hikari helped me center myself so I wouldn't be a danger to anyone. All who have been gifted their powers can ultimately learn to master them. Your fears are unwarranted. Besides, you know all too well that this is not about us being a danger."

Tashima scowled at Rei. "You are correct. We were to secure the city to kill you all but that isn't our ultimate goal. Our goal is Eden.

"I know this well," Rei replied. "Bastion wants The Promised Land. All men since the beginning when they were cast out of Eden have wanted this… but the unworthy can never attain it."

"If anyone is unworthy it's you!" Tashima yelled back. "SEELE was going to lead us to the Promised Land! You stole that from us!"

"SEELE betrayed mankind!" Rei yelled back with far more emotion than Tashima ever thought possible from her. He noted the sudden cringing of all the Nephilim nearby, as if he had just awoken the wrath of something terrible."

Rei closed her eyes for a moment and calmed herself before she continued. "Man defied God… not once now, but twice. Mankind defied his conventions, then tried to touch God and take his power for thenselves. That is why your God abandoned you, and why Shinji in His wisdom has taken his place. Shinji would welcome even you into His city, and eventually fulfill your desire to reach the Promised Land, but by your very nature, you will never give up your Xenophobia, your cruelty, or your greed."

"Join us or Die?" Tashima noted. "You are no better than the Crusaders of old."

"If that is true… it is your people who made us this way; Persecution... Experimentation... Shaming... Torture. Blood will follow blood, Noboru, and the tortures you have laid upon us will be returned to you and those who follow your line of thought. You might still be saved… but Bastion Kane… he will be made to answer for his crimes against Hikari and her family."

Tashima said nothing. On some level, he knew what Rei was saying was true, but he didn't want to believe he was on the wrong side. The Nephilim were dangerous beyond a doubt in his mind, and men like him were all that stood between them and oblivion. This blue haired angel was a monster… pure and simple. And ironically, they held the keys to salvation.

"I can see you will never change your mind," Rei noted causing Tashima's heart to skip a beat. He forgot she was psychic. "Such a pity. Shinji can only open the door to salvation for you. If you will not step through it, that is your choice."

A smaller Nephilim, no older than 10 walked towards Tashima. She was cute, he had to admit, though her red eyes were creepy. She reached out and touched his shoulder.

"Tell Bastion, I will come for him soon enough."

At Rei's words, the face of Bastion came into his subconscious. It was all the girl touching him needed. In burst of dark energy around him, he was thrown through space to appear in Bastion's Office.

The man looked over his desk at Tashima with an eyebrow raised. Tashima was about to speak when his stomach felt like it turned in upon itself. The trip though compressed space did nothing good for him. He barely managed to grab Kane's trash pail in time.

Langxi

As the battle came to a close in Tokyo-3, the battle in Langxi was reaching its climax. Kaworu managed to get distance and heal his wounds before turning around and looking back at the battle taking place between his beloved Asuka, and the abomination of a Mahkai that nearly killed him.

"Careful," he whispered as he watched the display.

The Mahkai leader pushed his attack, with his blades swinging in every possible arc as he spun and slashed, but was constantly rebuked by Asuka who was able to block nearly every attack and dodge the ones she chose not to. Despite not airborne, despite not armored, she was calm and focused and still had yet to speak.

"I'll break your defenses!" the monster yelled as he slammed two blades at once into Asuka's block. But she was unmoving. Her face still a picture of aggression but she still refused to speak, pushing hard against the attack and throwing the leader backwards a few feet. Calmly she continued forward. Her unbreakable, angry, serenity unnerving him.

"Say something!" He yelled, swinging in a scissors motion. Asuka simple stepped back once and leaned away from the attack to avoid it. And pressed forward with a viscous sidelong slash of her own. The tip of her blade managed to catch one of his arms, searing the flesh there as it passed, the pain making him drop the weapon. Asuka continued to simply press forward, preventing him from retrieving the blade. Down to five he tried to play it more defensively, and it seemed that was what Asuka waiting for.

She suddenly picked up the pace nearly three-fold, swinging her blade in powerful yet somehow controlled arcs forcing the monster to concentrate on blocking almost exclusively, but it didn't help. Before long he lost his upper right hand to a searing slash reducing him to just four blades. With his offense cut down by a third now he tried to withdraw. But Asuka wasn't going to allow that to happen this time. The moment he turned, Asuka knocked the rear torso's blades aside and beheaded it in the second swing. The leader screamed as he lost his secondary brain, falling on his face and sending his last two sword sprawling.

"Mercy!" he cried. "I am no threat to you now!"

"You make it sound like you ever were," Asuka finally replied. Her voice was calm, almost serene, sending a chill up what remained of the monster's double-spine. "I underestimated you the first time and got careless. This time, I made sure you weren't surviving. Now it is time for you to pay for all of the death and pain you've caused others."

The Makhai leader tried to crawl away but Asuka was on him before he got much further, sending her blade into his chest and piercing the monster's primary core. With one last shriek of pain the monster began to melt under her, finally releasing the souls of the Nephlim he consumed as his body turned into so much organic goo, and evaporated into dark mist before dissipating completely.

Asuka stood there for a few moments after the monster was completely gone, turning her head to the east and watching the sun rise over the mountains. Kaworu landed quietly behind her and stepped forward, placing his arms around her waist and stomach from behind. She responded by leaning back on him as her sword and wings faded.

"It is over," Asuka noted.

"You have done well by these people," he assured her. "With everything that has happened, you still set aside your own comfort for the innocent."

"Expect anything different?"

Kaworu smiled. "Of course not. You are a warrior at heart, and a true warrior needs something to protect more than an enemy to fight." He sighed. "Which brings up something important."

"I know," Asuka whispered. "It's time to go home."

An hour later, after Kaworu and Asuka helped get the town back in order, Daquan and a few of his comrades stood in the center of two with their saviors.

"We owe you a debt we may never be able to repay," he admitted.

"Do not worry yourself about such things," Kaworu replied. "However, the time has come for you and your people to join us in Holy Zion."

"All of us?" a young Chineese woman nearby asked hopefully.

"All of you," Asuka assured her. "Towns like this are no longer safe from the demons that stalk the lands. But Zion is a sanctuary for our people and those who would join us in peace. There are many like us there, and many like me who will always fight to protect the ones who can't."

"It will be a little difficult, but I can take us all there," Kaworu offered.

"Everyone!" Daquan called out. "Gather only what you need!"

The crowd dispersed in order to gather their belongings.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Asuka asked with concern.

"I can," Kaworu replied. "I need to prepare, and I need to pray. Shinji-sama will bring us home."

"I still have a hard time seeing him as a god," Asuka noted.

"Think of how he must feel!"

Both chuckled at that realization. The meek child who had his ego torn down over the course of nearly 2 years gained true ultimate power. In many ways though, Asuka felt this was right if for one reason… only someone who had nothing and gave everything should gain everything, for only a person like that would know what to do with such power without falling to evil.

One hour later, Kaworu prayed to Shinji to light the path home. In a circle of light that surrounded the people of Langxi, he did just that.

To Be Concluded….

The Zepplins rain upon us,

The guns of love, disastrous,

A shadow lies amongst you,

To defy the future caste