DC Evangelion
Chapter 13: To Defy Heaven
Shinji shaded his eyes with his hand as he stared at the unbroken stretch of railway ahead of him and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
With a sigh, he continued walking as he turned his attention to the innards of the small servitor robot.
He had quickly gotten bored with just walking and had turned his attention to the robot he had brought with him. It had taken a while but he finally discovered the cunningly hidden joint seam and opened it. He scratched his head and poked at a loose circuit board.
With a pair of fingers, he gingerly picked it up and carefully inserted it into the proper slot. At least, he thought it was the proper slot. Come to think of it, that slot over there looked like it might accept the board as well. Hmmm, he considered. This was a lot like a puzzle where you didn't know exactly what sort of picture you were putting together.
The air boiled and shimmered as the blazing fury of the plasma lasers thundered forth, igniting the molecules in the air. The torrent of energy struck Sachiel and there was a rolling series of explosions like a string of bombs going off. Heat bloomed and Sachiel went down again, his limbs flailing.
"Yes!" one of the JSSDF Generals triumphantly watching the several stories high holographic screen. He turned, glancing at General Matsuda standing to one side, "Looks like we don't need your toys after all Matsuda," he remarked smugly.
We'll see, Matsuda thought grimly. He had to admit that the Blackhawks were doing rather well. Even BRAINIAC was surprised (although the quantum computer would never admit it) that they had been even able to hold the XT at bay for so long. He had been forced to revised his estimates twice already. But that wasn't too surprising, Matsuda mused.
BRAINIAC literally possessed a database that included the total sum of human knowledge and was capable of performing calculations at blinding speeds but the computer was sadly lacking in imagination. It couldn't innovate or make intuitive leaps. That was what humans did best. Logic could only take you so far. Sometimes you needed a wildly impractical hunch.
But it wasn't enough. They could slow down the XT. They could hurt it. But they couldn't stop it. Matsuda grimly watched the image of the Blackhawks closed in, trying to box in the XT and gasped.
Lightning flared as an electric storm spontaneously appeared. The XT was surrounded by a flaring, flashing strobing nimbus of energized lightning. "What the Hell—!" Matsuda blurted out and leaned over to stab a button on a computer console, "BRAINIAC!" he barked.
"Analyzing. AT Field is undergoing rapid fluctuation and modulation in wave form pattern and density," the quantum computer stated flatly, almost abstractly, "I believe the XT is purposefully altering its AT Field."
"For what purpose?" Matsuda demanded, his momentary euphoria draining rapidly.
"93.7 percent probability that the XT is about to initiate a counterattack," BRAINIAC said tonelessly.
The entire airframe was shaking and groaning as the aerodyne was buffeted by hurricane force winds. Goro clenched his teeth together as he fought to stabilize them. It was a losing battle.
"All Tac Officers!" Sora screamed, "If you got a clear shot, take it!" and stabbed the fire key on her control boards. Incandescent beams stabbed out, accompanied by a few other beams erupting here and there around the XT. They streaked out and as before, the beams bent, twisting aside. "Oh shit, not again..." Sora cursed.
The AT Field was swirling now, rotating rapidly around Sachiel forming a glowing ball of light. Then slowly Sachiel began to rise. Higher and higher.
Goro stared, slack jawed. "It can fly?" he and Sora blurted out more or less simultaneously.
Shinji groaned as he took off his shoe and flexed his toes. He was sitting on a grassy knoll, taking a brief break from his hike. He glanced down at a small puddle of water. He could see his reflection in it. He sighed as he stared up at the blue sky. "Rather peaceful out here," he remarked.
Professor Fuyutsuki shivered in his oversized parka as he walked on a gigantic ice cube to where a group of technicians were standing. He clapped his hands together to try and get some blood circulating and cursed. He was too damn old for wandering around the gigantic cryo-vaults.
He approached a group of technicians who were busy setting up a tripod. He heard them hammering the spikes into the ice itself and quickly anchoring the bulky laser to the stand itself. "Power is up, targeting computer is online, we're hot!" one of the technicians yelled, giving a quick thumb's up.
"Fire." The supervisor ordered.
Fuyutsuki perked up, recognizing the supervisor's voice. He quickened his pace as the laser shrieked and unleashed a high-pitched blast that lasted for several seconds before the laser shut itself down.
Immediately the group of waiting technicians rushed into action, charging into the melted pool of slush and ice and thrust a several large metal rods into the bored hole. "Lowering probes," one of the technicians reported.
"Probing!" one of them yelled.
Everyone turned to another technician crouching nearby with a small array of monitors and complex equipment. "Biometric levels stable, in lower baseline levels for cryo-statis."
"Regeneration status?" the hooded supervisor asked.
"Nerve regeneration at," the technician paused as he consulted another monitor, clumsily tapping in a sequence in his gloved fingers, "43 percent."
"Very well. I want another sequence done at the mid-spinal quadrant." The supervisor ordered. Immediately the probes were pulled out of the pool as a pair of technicians walked up with a pair of tanks with hoses attached and began spraying down the small pool with liquid nitrogen, freezing it again. The others immediately began quickly and efficiently dismantling and packing up the tripod with the laser beam projector and began hustling off to the next site.
The supervisor watched them for a moment before turning to look at Fuyutsuki who came crunching up. The supervisor sighed as she reached up with her hands and pushed back the hood of her parka.
Yui Ikari looked irritably at Fuyutsuki, "I told Matsuda that I haven't finished my examination of the Zero yet," she said peevishly, "Tell him I need another hour."
Fuyutsuki knew his former student too well and raised an eyebrow, "But?"
Yui sighed again, "But my earlier estimates were correct. The Zero is going to need at least another week at least, probably more like a week and a half before it's regenerated to operational levels."
Fuyutsuki nodded, "Not too surprising," he remarked blandly. He decided not to mention that Matsuda hadn't really thought that the Zero could be made operational anyways. It was a pretext. He just wanted her out of the way. So he had sent Yui down into the cryo-vaults because the last thing Matsuda wanted was Yui to go into hysterical mother mode.
Yui grunted. "Any word on Shinji?" she asked.
"Not yet."
Yui was silent for a long moment as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her parka. "How's Rei?" she asked after a moment.
"Still trying to activate the 01," Fuyutsuki reported.
Yui was staring off into the distance, "It's not going to work you know."
Fuyutsuki sighed. "Only Shinji then?"
"Yes." Yui said simply shaking her head. "We ..." she paused and then corrected herself firmly, "I made it too well. It's keyed to him and him alone. Think of 01 as a lock that will only accept one key."
"And that key is Shinji?"
"Yes. Rei is sort of like a skeleton key. She's able to link to all of the other EXO-Frames except 01," Yui said softly.
Fuyutsuki nodded silently and then pulled out a computer pad from his pocket, "Actually Matsuda didn't sent me about the Zero. I wanted to show you this," he explained as he activated the display.
Yui stared at the image of the XT soaring upward. As ponderously sluggish as a dead whale but nevertheless it was flying.
"We think," Fuyutsuki stressed, "is that it is manipulating it's AT Field to propel itself."
Yui took the computer pad and tapped a few keys thoughtfully. "Interesting," she remarked and then, "BRAINIAC?"
The display blanked, reappearing with an inverted triangle of three spinning circles, "BRAINIAC is online Doctor Ikari," the quantum computer spoke through the computer pad, "I am assuming that your query is in regards to the XT's recent demonstration of flight capabilities?" BRAINIAC asked politely and took her silence for assent and went on, "It is generating a singularly powerful AT Field which is interfering with our regular scans. However the wavelength and pattern of the AT Field is decidedly atypical of previously recorded manifestations. My current theory is that the XT is negatively inverting it's AT Field for gravitational propulsion."
"Very interesting," Yui remarked. She tapped a few computer keys absently, clearly deep in thought, "I saw that energy spear it was using earlier ... I wonder ..." she muttered as she tapping more keys.
"An interesting hypothesis Doctor Ikari," BRAINIAC remarked thoughtfully, "Please wait while I reprocess sensor data."
"Ikari?" Fuyutsuki cut in.
"Just an idea Professor," Yui spoke, "the fact that the XT is using the AT Field for flight made me realize that we may have been a bit shortsighted here. The AT Field may be much more versatile than we previously believed. In fact—"
There was a ringing chime as BRAINIAC abruptly cut into the conversation, "Excuse me for interrupting but I have just completed my analysis Doctor Ikari," BRAINIAC said urgently as a holographic image formed in midair of Sachiel and then layers of its surface was peeled away by magnetic resonance imaging and rotated.
"Your supposition was indeed correct. I have reassessed previous recordings of the XT. They indicate the usage of an AT Field being deployed not only for defensive purposes. It appears that a low-level AT Field is continually in use by the XT at the subdermal level."
Fuyutsuki smiled as he raised an eyebrow, "Reinforcing it's physical structure?" he supposed, "I did wonder how something so large could exist without collapsing under it's own weight."
"Not only that, but it would appear as it is using the AT Field for muscular movement," BRAINIAC reported. A new holographic screen popped up, showing an image of Sachiel walking and the view altered, showing a network of interconnected wavy lines and pulsating dots, "Observe. An augmented MRI scan." BRAINIAC stated as the track reversed and replayed itself in slow motion. A series of pulsating lines were highlighted, as the energy flows brightened momentarily and then decreased in activity as Sachiel strode forward.
"Interesting," hmmed Fuyutsuki.
"To say the least," Yui agreed.
"The energy spear that the XT was utilizing is actually a condensed and multi-layered AT Field," BRAINIAC added as a third screen appeared showing a slow motion replay of the XT discharging its harpoon from it's hand.
There was a loud cry as dozens of birds suddenly took flight, erupting from the forest. Shinji blinked as he watched the birds fleeing. "That was strange..." he murmured.
He glanced down at the pool of water and noticed that it was rippling. He watched as the water slowed its undulations and stilled.
A large number of tanks tumbled end over end as Sachiel landed in their midst and cut off it's negatively inverted AT Field.
Sachiel turned tediously, glancing momentarily at the aerodynes darting forward and then away, back towards it's objective. Tokyo-3. It took a single step forward, incidentally crushing a tank that had thus far managed to escape the fate of it's company.
"The field is down! OPEN FIRE!" Sora screamed over her communications channel and depressed the fire key on her console.
Once more, the Blackhawks answered. Streaks of intense light flashed out and smote forth on the body of Sachiel who staggered under the assault. It turned back to the aerodynes annoyed. It's arm, whipped up and lashed out with the energy spear but missed.
The Blackhawks held firm, blasting the XT again and again.
One might have called it courage or perhaps simple minded determination. Others might have termed it as foolish. Or an act of desperation.
They could not hope to stop Sachiel.
Logic, reason, even experience hard won at the cost of dozens and dozens of casualties told them so.
But they scorned such conclusions even as they sought to defy it.
Shinji was studying the pool of water with interest. There it goes again, he thought. The water abruptly started rippling, spreading forth and disturbing the entire puddle before slowing and becoming a placid pool once more.
But he thought that the water was becoming more violent. Sloshing at the edges more and more forcefully. And the time between the moments of stillness were decreasing. He stared as the water was now almost bouncing, droplets of liquid splashing and it wasn't stopping anymore.
thoom.
He blinked.
Thoom.
Again?
Thoom.
What was that? He cocked his ear, trying to locate the source of the sound.
What was that noise? Thunder? Couldn't be. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. He laid his palm flat on the ground. He could feel the earth itself trembling. Earthquake? he wondered. That might explain the reaction of the birds. But no earthquake ever sounded like that. It was utter nonsense but they almost sounded like ... well, like footsteps.
THOOM.
Shinji rose to his feet and watched as from behind a pair of hills, a group of aircraft emerged. They were flying backwards, apparently in formation.
No one could call them sleek and nimble. They were blocky and squarely angular. The best one could most charitably say about them was that they were ... solid-looking.
Most would refer to them as a blocky and squat brick and were about as aerodynamically looking as one.
But before Shinji could study them any further they erupted in a brilliant salvo of light that nearly blinded him. He flung up his arms instinctively and blinked frantically to clear the spots in his vision.
Then he saw it.
And his jaw dropped.
It was ... big. That was his first thought. His second was that it looked rather silly looking. The body was too big for it's spindly limbs, there was no apparent head except for some strange white bird-like mask/face centered on the upper chest with two black eyes. A gigantic pulsating red orb was located in the center of it's chest with what looked like ribs wrapped around it protectively.
It also moved far faster than Shinji would have thought possible. One of it's arms came up in a sweeping motion, swatting one of the aircraft out of the sky. The aerodyne went spinning out of control—it was arcing up and ... and Shinji paled as he realized the probable crash site of the aircraft was right where he was standing.
He gasped and ran. The impact was felt rather than heard. The shockwave washed over him and he was sent tumbling head over heels. He fell through the brush and the weeds and came to a stop near a stretch of freeway.
He shakily looked behind him to see a whole section of the forest was burning. Trees were shattered and the ground itself was torn and broken. Looking around he saw that his bag and the servitor droid was lying nearby. He picked them up more out of shock than anything else.
Missiles came shrieking overhead. There was the rolling percussion of multiple detonations.
He staggered forward to see the gigantic thing simply standing there, unhurt, unfazed in the middle of the firestorm. He stared. He was dreaming. He was hallucinating. He was something because this ... this could NOT be happening.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blue blur. He turned as the sports car came careening around the blind curve and he screamed as it roared towards him!
Misato stuck her head out of the window and glared at the fallen boy just inches away from getting planted face first into her grillwork. The stench of burned rubber irritated her nostrils.
"HEY! Didn't your parents ever tell you not to stand in the middle of the road? #%##$$!" she vented her rage at the stupid airhead whom she nearly had made into a speedbump. Only her reflexes had enabled her to slam on the brakes in time.
Then she lowered her mirrored sunglasses and then eyed the trembling, pale faced boy closely. He looked familiar. She reached into the car and pulled out a small computer pad and examined the picture again.
She sweated. Oh crap. She nearly made roadkill out of the Pilot Candidate.