A/N: Merry Christmas, everyone! Sorry for the long wait on the update. And, I didn't mean to rhyme there, either. Sorry about that. But here's my 2013 Christmas gift to the loyal readers…a chapter I'm sure many of you have anticipated for a long time. SPOILER ALERT: Well…not really a spoiler, I'm pretty sure ya'll have guessed what the basic idea with this chapter is. Enjoy!
CHAPTER 34: THE WOLVERINE
Misato now stood in front of both Commanders and Captain Sergei Tokarev. The Captain was wearing dark blue coveralls and body armor lacking any pouches aside from a first aid kit and pistol magazine holders. Strapped to his thigh, in a holster, was his Five-seveN pistol. His helmet was gone and he had unmistakable soot smeared on his face and clothes. His one eye was fixed on her, glaring with discontent.
Next to her stood Doctor Akagi, her head wrapped in a bandage. Ritsuko certainly fared better than she had. Misato's left arm was in a sling, with bandages covering her metal cast. She also had a bandage wrapped around her head. With her left arm in a sling and bandages, and an ice pack taped to her shoulder, Rei stood just behind and to the side of the group, with Asuka standing to the side, her arms folded in indignation.
Misato waited for Commander Ikari to begin 'interviewing' her regarding the Third Child, Shinji Ikari. His own son. Misato briefly recalled the events that would be the subject of this 'interview'. Events, relayed to her by Kaji just after she had regained consciousness.
XXXXX
Twelve hours ago…
"You fucked with the wrong Wolverine," Shinji spat before bringing his fist crashing down onto the emergency eject. The entry plug shot away from the EVA and began its controlled decent, eventually landing in a small grove adjacent to a shopping mall.
"Pilot has ejected from Unit-01," Shigeru announced. "All connections with the plug have been cut off at the source."
"We're still getting a reading on his vitals though," Maya reported.
"Activate the homing beacon in the Third Child's plug suit," Ikari ordered immediately. "Mobilize a response team from Section 2. Have the Third Child apprehended immediately."
"If I may, Comrade Commander," Tokarev spoke up. He ears had picked up something the pilot said and it did not sit well with the former Spetsnaz operator. "I request permission to send in my group as a contingency."
"Contingency?"
"Yes," the Russian nodded. "They will help Section 2 secure the area and make sure the pilot does not escape."
"Very well," Gendo agreed with a nod. "Mobilize your Special Tactics unit. Orders are to capture the pilot of Unit-01."
Not long after, three black sedans pulled up outside the shopping mall. The tracking device in the plug suit brought them right to this site. Two agents exited from each vehicle. "The Third Child is somewhere inside," the lead agent said to his partner. "Team one will go in with the homing tracker and apprehend the pilot. It'll bring us right to him, no matter where he hides. Team two will provide back-up if needed. Team three will wait here while Special Tactics sets up a perimeter." At that moment, said Special Tactics group arrived in a dozen black H2 Hummers. Three to four heavily armed troopers dismounted from each vehicle. A NERV UH-1J also appeared overhead to provide air support in the form of Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) and a door mounted MG3 machine gun and a bolt action SIG50 .50 caliber sniper rifle.
As they watched the Special Tactics section, a division they didn't know existed, the bridge bunnies were shocked at the size of the response force. "Isn't that a lot of firepower just to bring in Shinji?" Makoto asked. No one gave him an answer.
"Team one is entering the mall now," the Section two leader announced. "Team two, move up to the front doors and stand-by." Two white silhouettes on the FLIR image entered the mall and disappeared inside. Two more dots moved up to the doors and waited. On another screen a video camera, held in one hand by one of the agents, his H&K sidearm in the other, displayed the inside of the mall as the agents tracked Shinji's signal. "Signal coming in strong. We're getting close."
The pair entered a large department store. Power was out in the whole mall so the agents switched on their weapon mounted white lights once the ambient light became too low for them to see. "He's in here somewhere, sir." The agent holding the camera said.
"Come on out, Third Child!" The lead agent shouted. "You can't hide from us, kid!" They got no response.
"We're closing in," the tracker agent announced. "He's within ten meters."
"Look," the lead agent pointed with his elbow towards the dressing rooms. Beneath one of the doors they saw a green and black foot connected to a green and black leg. "Move up." Quietly they walked forward. "Three, two, one…" The lead agent kicked the door in, darted inside the dressing room and tossed out…a mannequin.
"What the hell?" The plug suit was being worn by one of the store's mannequins. Before either could question it, the agent holding the camera was attacked from behind. He and the camera fell to the ground as the lead agent was heard struggling with their attacker. A pair of gunshots went off as the tracker agent got back on his feet. Two more gunshots rang out, hitting the agent square in the chest. He collapsed in front of the camera like a rag doll. Maya recoiled at the sight of the dead agent. The grunts of further struggle continued for a few more seconds before another gunshot rang out.
"What is their status?" Gendo Ikari asked. "What is going on down there?"
"Captain Tokarev," Makoto got on the radio. "Commander Ikari is demanding an update."
"It would appear the first team of Section 2 agents was caught with their pants down," Tokarev reported back. "Looks like the pilot anticipated we'd track his suit. Team two is arming themselves and going in equipped with a heartbeat tracker."
Before going inside the two responding agents went back to their car and pulled out a pair of Magpul FMG9, compact machine pistols. They rushed inside, switching on the lights on the front of the SMGs. One of the agents strapped a heartbeat tracker to his wrist. "Let's find this little shit," the tracking agent said to his partner.
"You got that right," he nodded. "I say if he doesn't come quietly we put one in his leg and say our trigger-fingers slipped."
"No argument here. There he is," the agent said as they came to the store. Sure enough, a blip appeared on the heart beat sensor. "Let's go."
"Command, we are approaching the dressing rooms," the lead agent said. "We've got a lot of blood here."
"Doesn't look like Jin and Tetsuo made it," the tracker agent said. "Not getting anything."
"There's Jin," the lead agent said. The agent moved forward and double checked the pulse. "He's gone." He opened his dead associate's jacket. "His sidearm and magazines are gone, too."
"The kid's armed," the tracker agent said. "We've got a blood trail over here." He followed it as his partner back him up. The tracker checked his display. It was leading them right to the dot on their screen. "It's leading us right to…"
"It's Tetsuo!" The lead agent said. Sure enough, with his back to them, was a Section 2 agent, sitting on the floor, leaning against a counter. "Command! We've located one of the agents. He's wounded but alive." The lead agent moved forward. "Requesting medical-!" As the agent knelt down a bullet was fired from near point blank range up through his head. The agent fell backwards as his partner recoiled, wondering what the hell was going on. He realized what had happened and fired a three round burst into the body leaning against the counter just as a pair of hollow points connected with his chest.
As the fourth agent fell to the ground, KIA, Shinji pushed the corpse off of him. He used it as a meat shield and to block him from view of the agents. He then stood up and pulled the ear piece from one of the agents. "Team two, come in," it was Tokarev's voice. "Team two respond!"
"Team two is not responding, Captain," another voice came on the line. "Team three is moving up."
"Negative!" Tokarev barked. "The subject is armed and just took down four of your comrades. We'll handle this." Shinji dropped the ear piece and grabbed the heartbeat tracker. He accessed its programming and modified it to jam anymore heartbeat sensors. Pocketing it, he then cautiously moved up to look out into the mall.
Looking down the hall he saw a group of foot mobiles bounding forward. 'I didn't know NERV had a tactical unit,' Shinji said to himself. 'Tokarev must've called in some old friends.' Shinji retreated down the hall, keeping low to avoid being spotted. Knowing there was likely a perimeter set up by now, he would have to play this carefully if he were to escape. Luckily, he already had a plan.
"Command," Tokarev, out in the parking lot, called NERV HQ. "I'm sending in two squads to search the mall. We're discontinuing use of our heartbeat trackers."
"Why?" Commander Ikari asked.
"Now that the Third Child is in possession of a tracker himself, he could very easily use it to jam ours." The captain checked the tracker he had in the trunk of his Hummer. "Confirmed," he scoffed as he tossed it back inside. "He's jamming us." He marched to the back of the parking lot towards the command vehicle.
"Just bring the pilot in."
"Da, Comrade Commander, we'll drag him in." 'Bruised and bloodied if need be,' the Russian said to himself as he climbed into the armored vehicle.
Inside, the squads split up into teams to canvas each store as they moved systematically through the mall. They were pros, they kept their chatter minimal, their movements smooth but quick, and their weapons up and trained as they moved. "Alexi," a soldier muttered to one of his comrades in Russian. "Check the kiosks." Alexi nodded and moved forward. "Marco, check the lavatories."
"Da," Marco nodded as he moved towards the toilets. He first entered the ladies' room but found it empty. He checked the utilities closet, empty save for the cleaning cart inside. He then moved into the men's room, not noticing that, having forgotten to check behind the cleaning cart, a small figure followed close behind.
As the rest of the team moved through the store they heard what sounded like a cough over their radio. "What was that?" The fire team leader asked. "Sound off."
"Alexi, up."
"Roman, up."
"Erm, Marco, up," Marco replied with some more coughing. "Koye-chto v moyem gorlye. Ya ispolʲzooyo vannooyo." (Something in my throat. I am using the bathroom.)
"Sdyelaytye eto bistrim," the team leader said. He then motioned for the rest of his team to file back out of the store. (Make it quick.)
"Da, da," Shinji said as he pulled the dead Russian's coveralls on. He discarded the clothes he borrowed from the mannequin in the trash. Once the Russian had entered the restroom, Shinji stunned him by clubbing him on the base of his skull, beneath the helmet, with the butt of the USP40 he had liberated. After that, it was a simple matter of quickly grasping a hold of the Russian's head and, with a quick twist, immediate ragdoll effect. Shinji then donned the body armor of the fallen Russian trooper.
When he pulled off the black hood Shinji noticed a tattoo on the Russian's neck. Looking closer he could make out a black, regal crown, superimposed over a three pronged, Klingon-throwing star looking symbol. Circling around it was a black snake eating its own tail. 'Inner Circle,' Shinji would recognize the symbol anywhere. 'Son of a bitch.' Shinji picked up the soldier's P90TR with C-More red-dot and exited the bathroom so he could 'catch up' with his Russian 'friends'.
XXXXX
"Kitezh platoon, report," Tokarev was calling his squads to get an update on the search.
"Negative, comrade," the squad leader reported. "No sign of our quarry."
"Impossible!" Tokarev had gotten the same thing from all his teams. "Spread out and canvas the mall again! Turn over everything! I want that bastard found!" Tokarev was sitting in his GKN AT105C Saxon command vehicle. It wasn't a fully armored vehicle, but it served its purpose as a mobile command vehicle. He was going over NERV's file on the Third Child. And what he saw was not in line with the difficulties he was having with this adolescent.
"Da, comrade."
"Comrade Commander," Tokarev called Ikari. "We don't have him yet." Behind him, a trooper was monitoring the FLIR images from the helicopter.
"What is the delay?" Ikari asked with discernable frustration. "You've been on site for over an hour!"
"He is making it very difficult for us," Tokarev stated matter-of-factly. "But he cannot escape from our quarantine."
Another squad filed into the mall as the search intensified. Inside, soldiers broke away from each other to independently search the mall. They kicked over every stand, overturned every waste bin, pushed in every door, and opened every cupboard they came across. They even pulled the gratings off vents big enough for even a small child to fit through.
One soldier, carrying a P90 exited out the back of a music store. He waved to a pair of soldiers at the far end who were checking the garbage. The trooper strode carefully out to the front lot. 'Wow,' Shinji said to himself. 'All this for little ol' me? I'm flattered.' The chopper flew overhead and Shinji knew it had to have some kind of infrared equipment on board. Slipping away with that bird in the air would be tricky.
He marched to the nearest H2 Hummer, left unattended. Moving slowly, but casually, to make it seem like he belonged there. He calmly looked in the back of the vehicle. "Damn," he whispered to himself. "These guys came armed for bear."
Inside he saw M72 LAW rocket launchers, an M79 grenade launcher, 40mm HEDP grenades, cases of C4 plastic explosives, claymore mines, ammo boxes and a shit load of other 'toys'. He also spotted a small, tactical duffel bag. 'I was hoping to get away quietly,' Shinji said to himself as he quickly improvised a plan. He grabbed the duffel and, after making sure he had no eyewitnesses, decided to 'strategically acquire', i.e. steal, some 'merchandise'. 'But fuck you, dad.'
Tokarev exited the command vehicle, barely avoiding colliding with a trooper carrying a duffel. "Izvinitye myenya, kapitana tovarishta," the trooper apologized. (Excuse me, comrade captain).
"Prodolʐitye, tovarisht," was his commander's reply. (Carry on, comrade). Tokarev went on his way as the trooper went about his. He failed to notice a new 'addition' to his command vehicle's undercarriage.
Shinji stopped by a hummer and knelt down to tie the boot he had purposefully let undo. As he did so he slipped a brick of C4, with a remote detonator into the wheel base on the vehicle. 'That'll do for the distraction,' he said to himself as he continued his 'patrol'. 'But I need a way to either avoid or negate that chopper.' As he came to the other side of the lot he noted that there was a small service station with a parked fuel truck alongside.
He casually walked around the truck, taking note that its gauge read full. 'Perfect,' the Wolverine said to himself. He removed another C4 charge, stuck a remote detonator in it and set it to its second frequency. He'd blow the other charges first and hopefully draw the chopper over to where it could provide support. Then, it'd be a matter of waiting so Shinji could blind its FLIR.
Tokarev was walking back after speaking with one of his squad leaders. The trooper had recommended pulling up any maintenance tiles and breaking into ceiling tiles. Tokarev chastised him for not doing that already. As the former Spetsnaz Captain began to walk back to his post he began to wonder if the Third Child had indeed somehow been able to slip past his perimeter.
He looked up as he approached his Saxon in time to see it disappear into a ball of fire along with a hummer thirty yards away. Tokarev was thrown backwards and slammed onto the rear bumper of another H2. He collapsed to the ground wondering why he was having difficulties breathing. Somehow, he managed to get up and stagger out of the billowing smoke column. Two of his men pulled him over to their hummer to check him for injuries.
The Saxon vehicle had been blown in two by the blast, flames engulfing everything and everyone inside. A nearby hummer had been knocked over and a second had been tossed end over end when it exploded along with the Saxon. It too was now a flaming wreck with the ordnance inside cooking off.
Up in the air, the UH-1 slid over to get a view of the damage but making sure it kept enough distance to avoid being hit by the exploding ordnance. It then began to scan the area for any suspicious activity. As it began to fly over the gas station it zoomed in to try and see if there was anyone inside. In the chopper, the FLIR operator was scanning the office area when his screen suddenly went completely white. His pilot and their gunner and sniper in the back screamed just as he looked up to see a massive fireball consume their chopper.
"Oh, snap," Shinji said as he dove into a small ravine. He looked back to see the helicopter pitching and yawing like crazy. The flames from the exploding tanker truck had set the aircraft on fire and the accompanying thermal column had thrown the helicopter's flight control out of whack. A second later the helo rolled over and it plummeted down to terra firma, crashing in the middle of the highway. "Oops," Shinji chuckled to himself as he ran through the small forest. "Didn't intend for that to happen." He then shrugged it off, deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Back at NERV HQ the staff watched in horror as the vehicles exploded followed shortly by the FLIR imagery going white hot, then blurring into a chaotic mess as the helicopter spun out of control and then cut off. A long range remote observation post was still streaming video, showing the damage caused in less than thirty seconds.
"Wow," Lieutenant Makoto Hyuga, the tactical genius among the bridge bunnies, let out a moan just loud enough for his fellow technicians to hear. "He is really kicking their asses."
Shinji made his way to a small auto garage, there, he was able to commandeer a Mazda Scrum mini-truck, a common vehicle in the rural areas of the country. He removed his helmet, baklava and vest, then unzipped the coveralls halfway and wrapped the upper half around his waist. He then carefully pulled out of the garage and onto the highway. He was able to merge into traffic a mile away, folks who were just being let out of the evacuation shelters right on schedule.
He first went to a public gym where he had rented a locker not long after he arrived in Tokyo-3. Walking in, minus tactical gear, to the others working out he looked like a regular young Japanese teen who worked at a mechanics shop. He went to the locker, entered the combo into the pad lock, and retrieved the backpack before retreating into one of the showers.
He rinsed off the LCL and changed into the clothes inside the bag. He dumped the tactical clothing and helmet along with its radio, which would now be useless to him, into the garbage dumpster behind the gym. He then returned to his truck and left the gym, disappearing into the city as lights came on for the night.
XXXXX
Hours later…
"Why didn't his file mention his status as a former-Wolverine?" Tokarev asked Misato, breaking the uneasy silence.
"I didn't think it was relevant," Lieutenant Colonel Misato Katsuragi responded to Captain Sergei Tokarev who visibly recoiled at the reply. "There were a few things his file didn't mention, like the fact that he speaks fluent German. But, it never came up as an issue."
"So," Tokarev said stepping forward. "We have a young man, raised in a foreign country, speaks not one, but four languages, who displays tactical acumen seen only in professionally trained-"
"E-excuse me," Misato interrupted. "You said 'four' languages?"
"Da, Comrade Colonel," Tokarev sneered. "Japanese, English, Russian and now, according to you, German."
"He speaks Russian, too?" Asuka blurted out.
"You did not know?" The blank faces on Shinji's roommates gave him his answer. "Again, we have all of this, half of his file being incorrect on top of him being a fucking Wolverine!" The captain's face was getting red. "And you didn't think this was 'relevant'?"
"He's a kid," Misato replied with a growl. "When he confided in me it was clear that it was a touchy subject. It would be hard on any kid to witness war, especially combat like that in America. And I can only imagine how difficult it was for him to take part in it himself." She then looked at the commander. "My job was to maintain him, keep his spirits up, so that he would still be an effective EVA pilot. I didn't believe that prying into his past, and possibly opening some old wounds, was the best course of action."
"You have a valid point, Colonel," Ikari replied, surprisingly containing his anger. "But recent events show how much your 'thoughtfulness' has cost us."
"I still don't see how this makes what happened to your men," she shot Tokarev a glance, "my fault. If I had been present I possibly could've talked to him."
"You weren't available," Vice Commander Fuyutsuki spoke up. "In any event, this doesn't solve our current situation."
"I agree," Ikari reluctantly nodded. "We will begin a search for the Third Child to apprehend and imprison him." He looked to the assembled group. "He has made death threats to several NERV personnel, myself included, and he has killed four Section 2 agents and six of Captain Tokarev's unit."
"Seven," the Russian replied. "They found the body of Marko Neski in a water closet in the mall." He looked to the NERV commander. "His neck had been broken and his gear taken by the Third Child."
'Nearly a dozen armed men in less than an hour?' Asuka fought to keep herself from shaking and prayed the others wouldn't notice her heavy breathing. 'I never thought that Shinji was capable of such a thing…' But, there the facts were, staring her in the face.
"Any of you have anything to add?" Gendo Ikari asked, looking to the EVA pilots.
"Th-this is all news to me!" Asuka snapped. "I never really cared about that freaks past. Never even asked."
"Rei?" Ikari looked to the First Child, not caring about the Second's testimony, or lack thereof. It provided no useful information.
"No sir," the red eyed girl's quiet response was surprisingly even. "Nothing that would be of assistance."
"Aren't you even the least bit surprised?" Asuka asked the disturbingly mellow girl.
"Why should I be?"
"Why? How about the fact that he just killed eleven men!" Asuka was confounded that anyone, even Rei 'Ice Queen' Ayanami, would be so calm and cool about all of this.
"He's killed many more than that," Rei replied. Everyone looked to her, expecting her to continue. "He survived a Russian invasion of his hometown, had friends die before his eyes and armed men die by his hand. Scores of Russian soldiers have failed to kill him on an open battlefield and he has proven himself to be a first rate combatant." The assembled group deadpanned at this revelation, coming from Rei no less. "So, no, I am not surprised."
"You know all this?" Tokarev asked her, stepping forward with his fists clenched at his side. "How?"
"He told me," Rei replied evenly. "One week ago."
"Right after the last berserker incident with Unit-01," Misato realized. 'Shinji needed to vent and felt comfortable enough with Rei to…'
"Did Shinji Ikari happen to mention precisely where he experienced the invasion?" Tokarev asked, his voice cracking under the stress.
"Philadelphia…"
As Rei was leaving HQ she saw a member of NERV security leaving the locker rooms with an overflowing box that contained Shinji belongings that were left in his locker. The man shifted the box in his arms and didn't notice a small item fall from it to the floor. Rei did and she picked it up. It was Shinji's shark tooth necklace.