A/N: Merry Christmas, fans! Here's the latest chapter in Call of EVA!
CHAPTER 42: M.I.C.E.
In the espionage world the motivations for spies fall into one of four categories defined by the acronym M.I.C.E.: Money, Ideology, Coercion, and Ego. An agent will be motivated by one or several of these categories.
For example, an intelligence analyst at agency 'A' could be facing some lingering and undisclosed student debt from college and is approached by a foreign agent from agency 'B' to give secrets in exchange for money to pay off the debt, or his debt is revealed to his bosses and he loses his clearance and his job. His motive to turn double agent, willingly or unwillingly, falls under both monetary to pay off the debt or coercion to provide secrets lest his secret be exposed.
Or, an agent joins his nation's clandestine services out of both patriotism, i.e. ideology, as well as the excitement that comes from living the life of a secret agent, ego. Often, motivations change whether loyalties change or not.
In the current case concerning one Kaji Ryoji his motivation for abducting the Vice-Commander of NERV was coercion. Not due to a threat to his life or his occupation, but rather on the life of someone he loved. Fortunately, he was able to devise a plan to turn the situation to his benefit. The hard part would be the timing. And for an intelligence operative, timing was everything.
For another agent, Sergei Tokarev, the timing was also crucial. His motivations boiled down to money and ego. He needed funding to support himself and his comrades following their organization's failed attempt to destroy both NATO and America. But, he also had personal grudges to settle. Hence his current employment under Commander Ikari.
The Vice-Commander of NERV, however, was not an espionage agent. He was a simple man who preferred simple living and no monetary bribe could swing him. Nor could coercion since he was getting long in his years and there was little to threaten him with. The man was also seemingly without ego, running his life and his job without pride or arrogance and was almost always humble. His motivations, though complex, could only be defined by ideology.
SEELE, the organization that oversaw NERV, the same organization responsible for Second Impact, the Third World War, and, more recently, Kozou Fuyutsuki's abduction, their motivations were ideology and ego.
"Unforeseen events have become all too common place at NERV, Vice-Commander," SEELE 03 barked. "Commander Ikari has run out his leash with his repetitive excuses." Kozou Fuyutsuki sat zip-cuffed to a simple chair in the middle of a blank room within an abandoned warehouse. He wasn't uncomfortable, but he wouldn't want to be here long. Unfortunately, whenever dealing with SEELE, long was the standard. Nevertheless, he remained calm by focusing on the one thing that always seemed to calm his temper: his star pupil Yui Ikari.
Yui had been like a daughter to him after he took her in as a research assistant. When she 'passed', he mourned her as if she were his own blood. He wasn't sure if his former student turned boss, Gendo Ikari, formerly Rokobungi, ever did the same. He certainly didn't do right by his own son; not that Kozou did anything about it either.
"The Instrumentality Project has been taken into expressly forbidden directions," SEELE 05 chimed in. The Vice-Commander already knew where this conversation was heading: a de facto declaration of war between SEELE and NERV. The prize: the fate of humanity.
"The absorption of the S2 engine into Unit-01," SEELE 02 listed, "the creation of a God-like being within the Evangelion…"
"Blasphemous and treasonous…" SEELE 03 growled.
"…repeated delays in the development of the Dummy System; the questionable condition of the First Child, the chosen lamb…"
"Not to mention the incursion into NERV Headquarters by the Commander's own son!" SEELE 07 snapped. "How is it that a teenager was able to overpower and kill two dozen armed and trained security specialists?"
"Intelligence and security assessments are your area of expertise," SEELE 02 countered.
"No one could've expected the offspring of Yui Ikari to turn out this way," SEELE 04 interrupted.
"Quite," SEELE 01, aka Keel, finally spoke up. "She was our most promising candidate for the Director of Project E."
"Then there was her incident with Unit-01 while it was still in development," SEELE 08 retorted.
"It was never proven that the incident was deliberate," SEELE 03 replied.
"Three years after second impact," Kozou broke his silence. "Shinji was only a child then. Full of energy, like all children at that age. He was there," he smiled softly at the memory of Shinji waving to his mother through the glass. "She wanted him to 'see how bright the future would be'. I wonder," he stretched his neck. "Did she know what was going to happen? I wonder that myself. Everyone was nervous but kept up appearances, though you could still tell they were uneasy. Yui, on the other hand…The results of previous tests were…horrific. But she was just so calm…"
"We are not here for a stroll down memory lane, Professor," SEELE 02 said.
"'Professor'," he smiled at the title. "No one's called me that in a long time. In fact…I think Yui was the last person to ever call me Professor with any regularity. Almost like she thought it were a title of nobility."
"Her 'accident' set our project back nearly a decade," SEELE 05 spoke up. "We were forced to fight off political investigations and watchdog organizations. Combined with Naoko Akagi's episode…"
"Another 'unexpected event'," Fuyutsuki replied.
"We had to restructure Project E and reshuffle GEHIRN personnel in order to keep the Security Council from discovering the Instrumentality Project."
"It's almost funny," the former Theoretical Physicist smirked. "You call yourselves the SEELE Committee for Human Instrumentality but you seem to constantly fail to take into account the 'human' factors. Even your current cover name, SEELE, means 'soul', as if you, and you alone, understood humanity and what it needs in order to advance. But, what you fail to realize, is that human beings, despite being creatures of habit, are not bound to follow any set of pre-ordained rules. No matter how intelligent the so called sages or self-anointed prophets consider themselves. And when it comes to bite you in the ass, you always act surprised." He stared at the impassive and silent monoliths. "Maybe that's why Yui's 'incident' occurred? To show that no matter what you do, no matter how much you scheme, you cannot control everyone."
"This is getting us nowhere," Keel growled, growing tired of the philosophical chess game. "Will you or will you not aid us in the final stages of Instrumentality?"
"You already know my answer…Crowley…" A slight gasp could be heard from SEELE 01 before the monoliths disappeared.
"…I don't expect you to forgive me, Yui," Kozou said softly to himself as he was left in total darkness. Suddenly, the room was lit up when the door was opened.
"I hope I'm not too late," Kaji said as he moved to the chair with an opened multitool in his hands.
"What are you doing?" Fuyutsuki asked as his bindings were cut. "You were the one that brought me here."
"They forced my hand," he shrugged. "I fulfilled my end of the bargain. Now it's time for me to do something for myself."
"They won't let you live for this," Kozou said as he stood up. "Nor will Commander Ikari for kidnapping me in the first place. He's probably got that Russian hunting you as we speak."
"I can handle Sergei," Kaji grinned. "But before I let you go, Vice-Commander, I just want to ask one simple question…" The older man gave him a curious look. "When push comes to shove, which will you choose to follow? Your orders, your guilt or your conscience?" He didn't wait for an answer. He just turned and left the Vice-Commander to 'make his escape'.
XXXXX
Two hours later…
Sergei chose three of his best men for the task at hand. They would make the intercept and dispatch the target. He had kept them in a safe house in case of such an eventuality as this one. Therefore, any would-be target would not recognize them and be put on alert. He also had three squads of his men, the last handful he had, armed with sub-machineguns and AKMSU rifles in case of trouble. He learned a long time ago to never take chances; especially here in Tokyo-3.
What he didn't know, was that the current target was still able to pick them out and subtly draw them onto ground of his choosing. 'This better work…' Kaji said to himself as he fidgeted. He would've preferred to do this with light body armor, such as a Kevlar vest under his shirt, but that would've been too obvious to trained eyes like Tokarev and his men.
Kaji walked to the service side of a now abandoned hotel, the setting sun making everything in the city turn a hue of red. Appropriate for the blood soon to be spilled. He heard footsteps approach from a side alley. "Well," he turned to face 'bad guy #1', "you're a little late, aren't you?"
From his position in the back of a box van serving as a covert command vehicle, Sergei heard a shot ring out over the radio. A second later he heard it echo from down the street. At first he thought one of his men had accomplished the mission until he remembered that they were all armed with suppressed PM Makarov pistols, they wouldn't have made such a loud noise. "All teams report!" He heard more gunshots over the radio. "Damnit. All teams converge on target area! Pursue and eliminate at all costs. Stealth protocol is rescinded."
"Captain," one of his men reported in, "Team One lead, Boris is down. Single GSW to the throat. KIA. Josef is in pursuit. Target is moving east towards the canal."
"This is Team Three," another squad leader reported in, "confirmed. Target is on foot heading for the canal. There's a small footbridge crossing it down stream of a monorail rail."
"Josef, stay with him. Don't let him escape. Team Two," Tokarev switched channels. "Move across the rail bridge and cut him off. If he gets to the other side of the canal and commandeers a vehicle we'll lose him."
"Already on the move, sir," Team Two's squad leader replied.
A minute ticked by before the former Spetsnaz-captain heard more gunfire, this time automatic weapons fire. "Cover! Cover!" A squad leader ordered. "He's got an SMG!"
"Looks like a micro-Uzi," another soldier spoke up.
"It'll still stich you up good," yet another chimed in. "We're not wearing armor. Be careful, comrade."
"Cut down of the chatter," Sergei ordered.
"This is Team Two," his flanking squad reported in. "We've sealed the other end of the footbridge."
"Target is still heading for the footbridge." Team Three reported.
"Team Two, Team Three, hold your positions," Sergei grinned like a cat. 'Got you now.' "Team One, move in and support Josef. Finish the job, comrades. He'll be trapped and you'll have fire superiority."
"Affirmative."
Kaji reloaded his micro-Uzi with the last thirty round magazine as he proceeded to the center of the covered footbridge. By now he figured Tokarev would be moving men into position on the other side, trapping him. He heard movement behind him and turned to see 'Bad Guy #2' moving along the pillars, sticking to cover. Behind BG-2 he figured there were more soldiers waiting to rush the bridge. "And here's where it gets dicey…" He said as he took up a position behind a pillar of his own…took aim…and fired.
Tokarev heard a burst of SMG fire along with several other shots before there was silence on the radio. "Josef, report?" He called out. "Josef, status report." Nothing. "Team One, move up now. Go! Go!"
"Captain," Team Two reported in. "Something just fell into the water under the bridge."
"Team Three confirms. Looked like a body."
"Team One?"
"Da, comrade," the report came in. "Josef is down. Multiple GSW to the chest. KIA. No sign of the target, but there is plenty of blood by one of the pillars and on a railing. Looks like he was shot and fell to the water below."
"Copy." Tokarev picked up a phone and called into NERV. "I need a cadaver search to be conducted along canal number four downstream of the green monorail line…"
XXXXX
That night…
Gendo Ikari and Kozou Fuyutsuki were impassive before Captain Tokarev and Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi. "No body was found, commander," Tokarev reported. "However, a blood sample collected at the scene confirmed it to be Kaji Ryoji's."
"Why was no body found in the irrigation canal?" Gendo asked, his voice devoid of emotion. Off to the side, Misato did an admirable job holding in her emotions. If she were on a movie set she'd be award worthy. The occasion and the necessity for her act were far from celebratory, though.
"The canal was swollen with runoff from the last rain storm," Tokarev explained. "During the angel attack. Easily class three rapids, combined with even a minor gunshot wound it is highly unlikely he would've survived."
"But if he did…?"
"He'd be very weak and unlikely to make it far," the Russian explained. "I still have men patrolling the canal and the lake shore just in case."
"Very well," Ikari nodded before turning to his operations director. "Do you have anything to add, Colonel Katsuragi?"
"No, sir," her monotone reply spoke to her fortitude.
"I felt it necessary to include you in this debriefing due to your relationship with Mr. Ryoji," the Commander of NERV explained. "The only reason I decided to forgo any implication of you with his activities is the total lack of evidence of you being an accomplice. However, you do have my sympathies."
'You're too kind, asshole.' Is what she wanted to say. "I understand, sir." And with that she was dismissed.
When she got home, Misato couldn't bring herself to tell Asuka what had happened. The girl probably had heard about it already, anyway. Instead, Misato cried. She wept. She got drunk and wept more. Twice. Twice in less than a month, she'd lost two members of her 'family'. She wasn't sure if she could continue to go on.
XXXXX
The White House
Washington, D.C., USA
"It's going down, sir," the National Security Advisor briefed the President. "SEELE's already making the rounds at the UN and they've cut all funding and support to NERV."
"How long?" The Leader of the Free World asked bluntly.
"Earliest? A week."
"We can't do anything with a week's warning…"
"Aside from airstrikes and limited SPECOPS on the ground, no sir. But, more likely, we'll have two to three weeks until they try to retake NERV."
"You really believe they'll try a frontal assault?"
"It's the only way they can ensure control of the pieces," the aid nodded. "And the SSDF specializes in rapid urban assaults. They could assault NERV HQ, eliminate its staff and secure all objectives within an hour…maybe two."
"I though the place was a fortress?"
"Against angels. But, a single individual, agent Ronin, was able to infiltrate NERV, eliminate multiple guards and, if he wanted to, could have assassinated the Commander of NERV at point blank range. Imagine what an organized assault by the SSDF would do?" POTUS let out a heavy sigh. The job was not easy on the nerves.
"Very well, then," he rubbed his temple. "Call General Marshall, tell him to get our wheels moving."
"It's official, sir?"
"If you're right about SEELE planning to take NERV by force…you're damned right it's official…"