Chapter 7: Armageddon part 1: Shattered Hope
The full United Nations Council sat waiting as Gendo Ikari appeared on the screen. "What is this urgent news you've called us all together about?" the chairman spoke up, clearly agitated.
"I come with bad news I'm afraid," Gendo spoke up in his usual all business tone, "We have determined the origin of the Angels. They have come from the galactic being known as Unicron." Gendo's image was replaced on screen by footage captured of the planet-sized monster. "It is approaching rapidly toward Earth. I have spoken with Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots of Cybertron, and he has agreed to allow the people of earth to pilgrimage to Cybertron while the Autobots aid NERV and the UN in preparing as best a defense against Unicron as possible. But we need your assistance. If we are going to even attempt to stop Unicron, we must stand together."
"So you expect us to just allow you to load up all of mankind and ship them to another planet?" the Chairman scoffed, "There must be another more peaceful way."
"Sixty Eight billion other worlds thought the same thing, Mr. Chairman," Gendo spoke icily, "and none are here to tell us how they met their more peaceful doom."
"We must debate this," The Chairman spoke up over the now very active council. "We will contact you when we've made our decision. Thank you, Commander."
The Chairman then leaned over to whisper to his assistant. "Contact Mr. Keel, have the Mass Produced Evangelions prepped for attack. Ikari's up to something, and I don't like it."
Asuka groaned at the loud banging continued outside her door. "DAMN IT, BAKA, I'LL GET UP IN A SECOND!" She screamed at the wall as she covered her head with the pillow. The banging didn't cease. "What the shit?" She grumbled, kicking her legs out over the side of the bed and sat up drowsily. She threw open the door and blinked to find the hallway abandoned, yet the muffled banging continued.
She padded to the kitchen where Misato was kicked back drinking a beer. "What in God's name is going on?" Asuka asked her guardian.
"What? You mean the noise?" Misato blinked in mock-confusion.
"No, I'm talking about me being placed in the custody of a idiot drunken prostitute wanna-be," Asuka placed her fists on her hips, "YES THE DAMNED NOISE,WHAT IS IT?"
Misato smirked as she got to her feet, and walked to the kitchen window. "Oh just this," She said as she threw open the window to give a great view of what looked like a super canon, half way completed where the hole from the Decepticon's ship in the Geofront was.
Asuka blinked a few times before she staggered back toward her room, and returned dressed and moving toward the door. She left the apartment ignoring Misato's yells, growling angrily. She wasn't sure what she was angry about but for some reason the thought of the overgrown peashooter made her infuriated with Shinji. Maybe she just wanted something to yell at the Baka. In any case, the Baka, sorry Officer Baka, was probably involved in that thing. And he had the gall to just up and work on that thing without telling her anything of it? How DARE he!
Asuka ran all the way to the construction yard, flipping off the Autobot who tried to tell her to slow down, and finally spotted Shinji in his Autobot uniform next to the hunched over Unit 01 talking to the Autobot Wheeljack and Red Alert.
"Baka!" Asuka half growled half screamed as she stomped toward the teen and robots.
Shinji blinked a few times before the three turned to the fuming redhead, "Um … yes Asuka?" Shinji asked, doing a mental check list to see what he might have done to upset her.
"Don't yes, Asuka me, Baka," Asuka all but screamed in the Japanese boy's face. "What in EVA's name do you think you're doing? Huh?" She growled, her eyes burning with anger.
"Um … working …" Shinji stared back, even more confused.
"EXACTLY, and what pray tell are you 'Working' on, Baka-Shinji-kun?" Asuka snapped out, placing her hands on his shoulders, and Shinji could feel her claw-like nails poking through the fabric of his uniform top.
"Um, a defense against Unicron of course and … did you just call me Baka-Shinji-kun?" Shinji blinked, the confusion mounting when her face, either from rage or embarrassment, colored pink.
"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" Asuka snapped.
"Excuse me, Pilot Sohryu," Wheeljack spoke up, but back stepped at the intensity of the glare the redhead gave him.
"Am I talking to you, you overgrown jalopy?" Asuka snapped before turning back to Shinji, "Mind filling me in on why you're working on this and left me and Misato at home with no breakfast and the house not cleaned up? Do you expect us to do the chores now that you're a big Autobot Unit Commander, making Misato and me your concubines and house cleaners, huh?"
"WHAT?" Shinji gapped at Asuka's rant, and his face colored at the mental images it created. Unfortunately Asuka noticed the blush.
"That's it isn't it, you are not only a Baka, Shinji, but you're also a Hentai, and a sexist pig!" Asuka screamed, while Shinji tried to calm her down to avoid any MORE attention around them.
"Asuka, that's not it at all," Shinji gave a hissing whisper, trying to hint to her to stop making a scene, "We have to have some means to fight back you know, unless you want to be giant robot chow."
"Shinji Ikari, you are an Evangelion pilot," Asuka growled, "We don't need any help, with the Evangelions, NERV is unbeatable, we don't need any help to beat a big stupid robot!" She lectured as what seemed to be a small eclipse passed over.
"Ok, maybe you'd like to tell him that," Shinji said pointing at the air where a large planetoid appeared to have taken orbit between the earth and the sun.
"Tha-that's Unicron?" Asuka gasped, unconsciously grabbing Shinji's arm.
"I may have had my bouts with depression, Asuka, but having the human race wiped out and all life on earth treated like a Wonderball candy isn't something I want to let happen without a fight." Shinji stated more confidently then he felt, and he mentally made a note to thank Prime for teaching him how to do that. "So you can either help out, Asuka, or you can go back home and wait for the fire works to start."
Asuka stared at the planetoid for a few moments, before glancing at Shinji in a way he had never seen before. "What can I do?"
"All systems are normal, Mr. Keel." One of the computer techs said as they monitored the cyberbrain and spark transfer process. "It seems like the body is accepting the implants."
"Excellent, how do you feel Megatron?" Keel spoke into the microphone headset straight into the cyberbrain transplant.
"How do you think, fool?" Megatron's voice growled through the com. "Give me control of my body."
"Don't worry; we have one more thing to do before we give you full control, Megatron," Keel smiled evilly, "Won't be long now." He said turning off the com system. "How's the control plug coming?"
"Almost ready to insert, sir," a tech replied, before finishing typing a sequence into the computer. "All's ready, sir."
Keel walked to watch as a large plug was being lowered to the large hole in the tarp covering a towering Evangelion-like body. "As soon as we place this in you're ready to go, Megatron."
The leader of SEELE watched with interest as the plug was just about to be inserted but he and everyone else in the control room gasped in horror as the massive arm reached out from under the tarp and grasped the control plug. "Don't worry about it, I gained control on my own." A booming demonic voice sounded from under the tarp.
The fist closed in around the control plug and completely crushed the object before grasping the tarp and pulling it off. The Towering Evangelion-like form was in red and purple armor similar to that of Evangelion Unit 01 but its head was adorned by a red and purple crown and its face was uncovering revealing demonic yet humanoid features, which showed a smug smirk at the moment. "Mega … Megatron?" Keel gulped staring up at the hybrid Evangelion/Decepticon.
"No," his voice sounded darkly, "Megatron is no more, Keel. I am Galvatron, Dark God of the Transformers." He broke free of the restraints and his glowing red optics stared down at the control room. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must regroup my troops." Galvatron growled before the body began to shift and change into the form of a massive flying battleship. Plasma cannons shot up blasting out the roof of the compound before rocketing out past the falling rubble.
"Lieutenant … um … get me the UN…" Keel said staring at the gapping hole in the roof of the compound.
Shinji wiped the sweat from his brow as he climbed out of the Entry Plug inside Central Dogma. He ran his hand through his hair trying to push some of the remaining LCL from it, before blinking in surprise as a group of Autobots began moving on his Evangelion replacing some armor pieces. "What's going on?" he asked, as his father stepped up.
"Something I hope you won't need, but with everything going on … better safe then sorry." Gendo said.
"How'd the meeting with the UN go?" Shinji asked, watching the Autobots work.
"The Autobots have helped you grow up more then I did," Gendo changed the subject. "Almost to spite what I was trying to do."
"Right, father," Shinji said staring at Unit 01's armored face. "You wanted me to bring about the end of the world right? Thanks to that thing up there I guess I'm off the hook, huh?"
"I deserve that …" Gendo dropped his head.
"No," Shinji said still not looking at his father. "You deserve to be left behind when Unicron gets through if we don't stop him. That's what you deserve."
"If we live through this," Shinji walked past his father, "Maybe I can learn to forgive you. But I'll never forget. Remember that." Shinji said, walking out of the Eva Cage. Gendo watched him exit to where Asuka was waiting on him.
"I wonder. Was it the Autobots who fixed the damage I did to you son, or the spitfire I gave you?" Gendo smirked to himself before turning back to the worker Autobots.
"So …" Asuka started awkwardly as they walked down the hallway. "How much longer till the big gun's done, Baka?" she asked, but with no malice in the use of the term 'baka'.
"If nothing goes wrong, it should be completed by the end of the week." Shinji replied, with a yawn.
"How early did you get there this morning anyway?" Asuka asked again, a hint of concern in her voice.
"I think I started work around three thirty this morning, why?" Shinji rubbed his eyes.
"Baka, you need to rest sometime," Asuka scolded. "I know you didn't go to sleep till eleven thirty last night. That's three hours, and that's not healthy, Shinji."
Shinji stopped dead still in the hall. "Did you just call me by my actual name?"
"It's your name isn't it, Stupid?" Asuka said looking away quickly as if to hide her face. "Go find a cot or better yet go home and get some sleep. We don't need the invincible Shinji falling asleep if the Decepticons decide to come back."
"You know, I think that's a good idea." Shinji stretched.
"Naturally, the spineless wonder STILL does as he's told, pathetic," Asuka quipped good-naturedly, "Get out of here, Baka, I'm going to go see what Wonder Girl and her peanut brained worshipers are up to."
"I'll have dinner ready when you and Misato get home," Shinji gave a mock bow, "Don't work too hard in my place."
"Never do, bye Shinji," Asuka waved as he walked around the corner. "-kun …" she added under her breath before turning on her heel to seek out another job.
"My fellow Decepticons!" Starscream stood on a hill overlooking the army of Decepticon survivors. "Our former leader has proven his foolishness by underestimating our enemies, and then his cowardice by abandoning us. Where he is, is anyone's guess. So in light of his absence, I the Great Starscream suggest a new leader chosen. Are there any nominations?"
The Decepticons stared up at him in silenced, before Starscream fired his canon over the injured Thundercracker shoulder. "I nominate you, Starscream!" the Decepticon yelped.
"An excellent choice, my friend; are there any other nominations?" Starscream asked, and when a Decepticon raised his hand, he suddenly found his head missing, and Starscream's canon smoking. "Anyone else want to try their luck?"
"Alright, all those in favor of Starscream being leader of the Decepticons say Aye," Starscream said, waving his canons across the crowd, which earned an astounding 'Aye' from the crowd. "Excellent!" Starscream beamed as the crowd awkwardly applauded their new leader. "The Great Starscream's first act as leader of the Decepticons will be …" Starscream was cut off when his body was bombarded with energy blast; shattering his armor and sending him to the ground gasping in pain.
A massive starship rocketed toward him before transforming into what looked like an Evangelion. The monstrosity crouched over Starscream's fallen body. "You Decepticon Leader, Starscream? That's bad comedy." The demon's booming voice spoke with a smirk on its face.
Starscream whimpered as the behemoth lifted him off the ground with only one massive hand. "What do you think of the new look, Starscream?"
"Mega-Megatron?" Starscream whimpered before he was raised quickly and his head and shoulders were bit off, chewed then spit to the ground in scrap.
"Wrong." it growled, throwing Starscream's destroyed body to the ground so hard it broke apart on impact. The monster turned on the remaining Decepticons sneering. "Anyone want to try to be leader?"
"Identify yourself," Soundwave spoke up.
"I am Galvatron, and I take Megatron … and Starscream's place as leader of the Deceptions," Galvatron boomed, glaring at the army. "Anyone have a problem with that?"
Galvatron then kicked a part of Starscream's body away from him. "As my first action as leader of the Decepticons, I order you all to prepare for a counter strike. We will prepare and the moment the human's defense against Unicron is completed, we will tear down everything they built."
It was finished, faster then any of the Autobots of NERV personnel expected, but it was finished. The Grand Canon was completed and Unicron was in range of Mankind's last great defense.
"Is everything ready?" Gendo Ikari asked from his place in the NERV Command Center as Autobots and NERV personnel worked at prepping the super weapon. "It's a shame Optimus isn't able to see this." Gendo said nodding toward Bumblebee as he and Ultra Magnus stood next to his station.
"Prime may not be awake yet, but he's with us, Spike," Bumblebee nodded to his old friend.
"Shinji," Gendo called out, gaining his son's attention. "I want you and your Autobot Unit on standby incase the Decepticons try anything, Unit 02 will be temporarily placed under your command." He said and was mildly surprised Asuka didn't complain.
"Commander Ikari, you did get permission from the UN to pipe into the energy lines, didn't you?" Misato asked from her station.
"They'll get over it," Gendo said coolly, "Once we take that thing down I doubt a few hours of no power will hurt anyone. Mankind went over 3000 years without electrical energy they can live without it for an hour." He said though he had a feeling the UN won't be all that pleased with NERV for causing a world wide electrical blackout.
"Is the target in range of the canon, Maya?" Gendo asked standing up.
"Affirmative Commander, Target is in optimal range." Maya replied.
"Then begin operations." Gendo nodded, gripping his railing.
"All personnel, to your battle stations! Repeat, all personnel to your battle stations! Autobot defenders report to assigned launch shafts, all Evangelion pilots to your Entry Plugs, move it people, this is NOT a drill!" Misato barked, as the command center came alive and the red emergency light came on.
A moment later around the world lights went out, power was cut off, and chaos reigned as all the energy of the world, mankind's mastery of its resources began to gather in a glow in the barrel of the massive Tokyo-3 Grand Canon. "Power at twenty five percent and rising, Commander, Ritsuko confirmed as the barrel began to shine from the inside.
Hope and excitement gathered in the hearts of all present. "Power at sixty percent, rising rapidly. Energy stabilization functioning nominally." Ritsuko barked, a smile forming on her face.
Gendo's knuckles whitened as his grip tightened on the railing. "Power at ninty percent, energy stabilization still nominal, firing preparation completed in ten seconds."
"Power at one hundred percent, energy at full, energy at full and stabilized. Grand Canon prepped for fire, on your order Commander!" Ritsuko called out.
"Fire Grand Can-" Gendo said staring up at the monitor, but before he could issue the command a large red beam shot through the canon's housing. All was still. No sound was made. But as the canon exploded violently, shaking the base and city around it all hope was shattered.
"Sniper attack? Decepticons just out side radar range! damnit!" Misato cursed.
"Decepticons …" Gendo growled, slamming his fist on the railing. "Every Autobot, everyone willing to fight, get out there. NOW!"
To Be Continued …
C. Cowboy: I know not my best chapter, but I've been fighting with this for quite a while now and finally just going to let this chap go as is and go on with the story. Next chap'll be better and faster, and will involve a major 3way battle between Autobots/NERV, Decepticons, and the United Nations and their Mass Produced Evas.
Next chapter: Armageddon part 2: Arise, Evangelus Prime