The Night Sky

"So let me get this straight…"
Dr. Mondschein and his son, Adam, are in an elevator, going down. On the way there, Dr. Mondschein had told his son the gist of everything. What his actual work was, what their situation was, the Angel, all that. That's not to say he believed it, though.
"You are the head of a secret organization-"
"Just this branch."
"You spend day after day developing high tech weapons designed to fight whatever is thrown at humanity-"
"Go on."
"And you are expecting me to pilot some semi-experimental super-weapon to fight a tree?"
"It's called an Angel, Adam. And yes. That is what I'm getting you to do."
"I'm sorry, Dad, but I can't believe this."
"I told you. I told you that you wouldn't believe this. That's why I'm showing you."
"Showing me what? So far, all you've shown me is this underground facility!"
The elevator doors opened, revealing a massive, hollow shaft leading up. Instead of a ground floor, the shaft was filled up with a red liquid. An artificial lake, with a dock and everything. Waiting for them was Allan Fisher, in a boat tied to the dock.
"You're right on time. Hop in, you two."
They walked down the dock and hopped into the boat. Allan fired up the motor and took off towards the opposite end of the 'lake.'
"So, Doc," He started, "This is the pilot?"
"Yeah. Adam? This is Allan Fisher. He's the head of actually making weapons."
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Fisher."
"I don't mean to sound impolite, Kid," Fisher explained, "but pleasantries are going to have to be exchanged later. This is a crisis."
After a while, they finally reached the dock at the opposite end of the shaft. Dr. Mondschein and Adam climbed out, and Fisher tied the boat up.
"Adam, come this way."
Dr. Mondschein led his son to a set of security doors. When they reached the doors, he became slightly hesitant.
"What is it, dad?"
"I could do what the Ikari's in NERV-1 did, and turn the lights off… No, you should see right off the bat."
He slid a keycard into a slot next to the doors, and they opened up.
"After you, kiddo."
They walked in, and before them stood a massive humanoid shaped behemoth.
"Adam, I'd like to introduce you to Evangelion Experimental Unit-14."
The body of the Evangelion was mainly green, with some dark yellow detailing. The head was mostly green as well, and had spikey red protrusions that looked like slicked back red hair. It had three eyes, arranged in a vertical line down the 'face.'
"Ah… guh… buh… Wuh…?"
"This is the 'Semi-Experimental Super-Weapon' I told you about."
"You… You want me to… Pilot THAT?"
"I don't want you to pilot it, Adam. But I need you to pilot it."
He just stood and stared at Unit-14. How could this day get any weirder? Hell, his day was normal up until Allison messaged him! Wait a second…
"If I pilot this…" he muttered under his breath, "I could probably make sure she's safe… If what Dad says is true, then I could protect everyone… including her…"
"Dr. Mondschein," A voice came over the loudspeakers, "The roots have nearly reached The Garden."
"Adam, if you're going to make a choice-"
"I'll do it."
"You will? Excellent!" He pulled two clips out of seemingly nowhere, and handed them to Adam, "You're going to need to wear these."
"Boss," Another voice on the loudspeaker, "why am I not surprised that you carry those around with you?"
"Because… Shut up, Quatre."
"Who was that?"
"I'll tell you after. As for right now, we need to get you into the entry plug. Come on."

In the command center, they were preparing the catapults for Eva usage, running diagnostics on all systems, and praying to whatever god they worshipped that the angel didn't reach The Garden.
"Alright!" Dr. Mondschein entered the command center, "The pilot is in the entry plug. Lieutenant Barret?"
"Injecting LCL."
"Alright. Adam, this is going to be unpleasant. No, it's not blood, and no, you're not going to drown."
"Drown? What are you- AH!"
"BREATHE."
All everyone heard from the speakers was Adam's desperate attempt not to breathe.
"It's oxygenated, Adam! You can breathe the stuff!"
A pause.
"And you said it's not blood?"
"Well, you can see through it and can breathe it. Can you do that with blood?"
"Can't say I've ever tried breathing blood, Dad."
"… Good point."
"Synch rate is holding at 60%, sir."
"Good… good. Load up Quatre's tunes."
He smiled a devilish smile, one that was reserved for Crazy awesomeness.
"Let's make it happen."
The loudspeakers in Unit-04 came alive, and started playing a simple tune.
"Yes! A Lumberjack! Leaping from tree to tree-"
"No. This isn't happening."
"Quatre, we don't have time to argue!"
"I have standards, Boss."
Dr. Mondschein sighed. Slightly disappointed, but he expected this. Oh well, maybe some other time.
"Fine. Here you go." (.com/watch?v=QmhjmYI8p7E&feature=related)
A pause.
"Appropriate. This'll do. Okay Boss. Let's rock."
"Adam?"
"Let's get this over with."
"Lieutenant?"
"Units 04 and 14 are loaded into the catapult."
"Alright! Evangelion Unit-04 and 14! Launch!"

The two Evangelion units shot through the underground shaft at intense speeds. In his entry plug, Adam felt as if he was going to be completely crushed by the g-force. Before he knew it, though, he was at the surface. On the surface, he saw a massive tree. Massive from his new perspective, his roughly 200 foot tall perspective.
"Ummm… Dad?"
"Yes?"
"Just how big is this thing?"
"Good question. Lieutenant?"
"It's holding at 700 feet tall. Trunk diameter is roughly 200 feet."
"S-seven hundred feet?"
"Don't worry, you can handle it. We're going to release the locks now. When we do, just… Walk."
"HOW?"
"Okay. Make your mind work. Think that you're walking, but don't."
"Okay… Walk."
"Releasing locks." Lieutenant Barret said over the intercom.
Adam felt the Evangelion lurch a bit forward. He felt slightly off balance, but nothing he couldn't handle. He hoped so, anyway.
"Okay… walk…"
Unit-14's right foot came forward, and hit the ground.
"So far so good. I can do this."
The left foot now. Slow, steady, but keeping balance.
"I have to do this."
"Need to do some laps, Pilot?"
"No. I think I got this."
Unit-14 started jogging in place.
"Okay, as long as you got this handled. You ready to rock this thing's face off?"
"Oh yeah."
"Kickass. Boss? We need saws. Preferably big, and of the Chain variety.
"Evangelion sized Chainsaws: Coming up! Coming in from Hatch 27!"
A hatch opened up behind the two Evas. A giant metal container shot up from underneath and opened up revealing, to no one's surprise but Adam's, two massive chainsaws.
"We actually have chainsaws?"
Unit-04 grabbed one and grabbed the pull cord.
"Pilot, when you work at NERV-Alaska," He pulled and revved up the Chainsaw, "Chainsaws are the least awesome thing you can find."
Shrugging his shoulders, Adam moved Unit-14 and grabbed the remaining chainsaw.
"Alright. Time to pilot this machine of war to cut down a tree."
"Adam," Dr. Mondschein said over the com, "you are going to be the one doing the most work here. You're going to be cutting it down. Quatre?"
"I'm going to rock the tree's AT Field to death. If it has one. Cutting it down from my side is a secondary priority."
"Right. Get to it, you two."
The air around Unit-04 began to shimmer. The two Eva Units began advancing on the massive tree. Unit-14 revved up its chainsaw and held it at roughly the smallest part of the trunk.
"I'm making the first incision."
The saw began to dig into the trunk. The Angel let out a deafening cry, and the trunk flashed orange. Unit-14 was flung onto its back, and the chainsaw flew out of its hand.
"You okay, Pilot?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."
The branches of the tree started waving around in the air, independently.
"That doesn't look too good."
Then one of the branches lashed out at Unit-04. It jumped back, and the ground in front of it was promptly sliced.
"Neither does that. Dad?"
"Your mission is the same, Adam. Quatre, your job is to cover Adam. For that, you need the weapon coming up through Hatch 28."
"Affirmative, Boss."
A hatch right next to the Chainsaw container opened up, and another container opened up. Inside of it was…
"Okay, instead of a chainsaw, I get a chaingun? Boss, you're the greatest!"
Unit-04 grabbed hold of the chaingun and pointed it at the branches. Adam picked the chainsaw up off the ground and brought it back to the tree.
"Ready?"
"Hell yeah."
He dug the chainsaw into the tree again, and again, the Angel let out a cry. Unit-04 let loose with its chaingun and shot at the branches that were trying to rip Unit-14 apart. All was going relatively well. The branches were deterred by the bullets, and the chainsaw was making reasonable progress.

Everyone was watching on whatever monitor they could find. Dr. Mondschein was watching on his wrist computer, and Fisher was watching over Lieutenant Barret's shoulder.
"They seem to be making good progress." Allan stated.
"Mr. Fisher…" Dr. Mondschein said, "Don't ever say that again."
"Why? It's not like something's going to happen every single time, right?"
That's when they heard a sound like slicing metal and flesh.
"Right. Never saying that again."

Out in the field, things WERE going good. But then the tree diverted its attention from Unit-14 to the more immediate threat. The branches turned and flew towards Unit-04. They sliced the chain gun's barrels and started impacting on Unit-04's own AT Field.
"Too close for comfort! Switching to Knife!"
The shoulder of the unit opened up and revealed the handle of a knife. He pulled the knife out, and it extended to its full length. He began slashing at the branches, but wasn't fast enough. The branches hit the knife out of his hand and cut off of his right arm.
"AH! F_, my arm!"
He jumped out of the way of more branches and towards the catapult.
"You two, get the hell out of there!"
"Pilot, I advise that we follow the Boss's advice!"
Adam looked back and saw Unit-04's predicament. Realizing that he didn't have backup anymore, he let go of the chainsaw and ran towards the catapults along with Unit-04.
"Come on, dad! We need the catapults lowered!"
Then he felt a sharp pain through his stomach. The stomach of Unit-14 was pierced through with one of the branches.
"Gah!"
Another two pierced the shoulders and lifted Unit-14 off the ground.
"ADAM!"
Three branches floated in front of Unit-14's face.
"N-no… It can't… end like this…"
They pierced the three eyes on the Eva's head. Adam screamed out in pain.
"Adam, it's not your body that's in pain! It's the Eva!"
"It… can't end…"
He slumped down in his seat, let go of the controls, and chuckled to himself.
"I wanted… to do so much. I wanted to become a writer. I wanted…"
The three branches pulled out and floated towards the chest.
"I wanted to tell her how I really felt."
He furiously grabbed the controls and tried to move.
"Damnit! I wanted to see her! I wanted to see her just once!"
The Eva unit's arms struggled, but didn't move.

"Sir, the Eva's nerves in the right and left arm have been completely shot! It can't move its arms!"
Dr. Mondschein started to panic. He looked on frantically, unable to do anything.
"Adam! You have to move!"
"I can't… Dad, my arms are numb."
"You have to do something! Use your legs! Use your mouth if you have to!"
"Nothing's working, Dad."
"Can't Quatre do anything?" Fisher interjected.
"In my state? I'll just end up in that situation as well."

Unit-14's legs thrashed around, and its arms struggled.
"Damnit… Damnit…. DAMNIT!"
Adam struggled with the controls.
"I wanted to protect her! I need to protect her! That's why I'm in this damn machine! Move you stupid piece of junk! I need to protect Allison!"
The Eva's eyes began glowing, and the air around the Eva began to shimmer.
"He who fights monsters… should see to it that he himself does not become a monster"

"Sir! Massive spike in synch rate!"
"This is either good or bad…"
"152% and climbing... 250… He's at 300%!"

In the cockpit, Adam's eyes started glowing a dull red.
"If I become an Angel… so be it. I'll endure the isolation. Anything… to protect her!"
The three branches flew at Unit-14's face again, but instead impacted an AT Field.

"He's… He's at 400% synch rate, sir."
Dr. Mondschein stared at the monitor in disbelief.
"Unit-14 is going berserk." Fisher stated.
"Great," Dr. Mondschein said, "First time he pilots, and he gets eaten by an Eva. My son just got eaten by an Evangelion! This is precisely why I was putting this off!"
"Sir… I'm detecting additional AT Fields."
"… What?"
"Detecting… 4 other AT Fields!"
"More Angels?"
"No… No, they're coming from Unit-14!"
"That's impossible!"

The branches holding up Unit-14 were instantly cut by the sudden generation of the AT-Fields. More branches flew towards Unit-14, but were instead stopped. An angelic voice resonated within the Evangelion.
"Nothing can stop me."
The AT Fields expanded and contracted in and moved in complex patterns.
"I found it."
The voice started speaking to itself in such a speed that no one could make out what it was saying. The AT fields sped up, and it stopped talking. It walked slowly towards the Angel, and any branches that came near it were instantly cut to ribbons.
"Calculations complete. Hydrogen, Oxygen, and trace amounts of elements with correct properties isolated. Burn."
From within the AT Fields, a spark ignited the isolated elements, creating a wall of flame that consumed the tree. It let out a deafening and terrifying cry.

Within the command center, everyone was holding their ears closed.
"Damn!" Fisher said, "Its like nails on a chalkboard embedded in my soul!"
"The main body has been destroyed!" Lieutenant Barret reported.
"Quatre!" Dr. Mondschein yelled, "We're sending you a present in Hatch 30!"

The hatch opened up. Inside the container was an all too familiar drill, with an arm attached to it.
"The MSBU Drill?"
"If I'm right, just attach it to your severed arm. That way you can use it's AT Field as well."
He picked up the drill and held it to his right arm. Sure enough, the muscles in his arm wrapped around the joint in the arm. He felt the muscles ease their way through the various workings of the arm, until it reached the tip of the drill.
"Hello, old friend. We got another angel to kill."
Unit-04 walked past the berserk Unit-14 and into the burning pile that was the main body of the Angel. He lifted the drill into the sky and plunged it into the ground. The end of the drill opened up and grabbed a hold of the core. He yanked and pulled the core out of the ground. He flung it into the sky and ignited the Anti-matter within the drill tip and activated the Drill's AT Field. The familiar bright light shone out throughout the landscape.
"Your sunrise…"
The angel was completely vaporized, along with the Drill tip. Unit-14 deactivated, and Unit-04 brought it back to NERV.

One hour later…

Dr. Mondschein was in his office. They defeated the Angel. Not without incident. For the past hour, various workers were observing the now inert Unit-14. No sign of his son. So he waited in his office. Fisher knocked on the door.
"Doc?"
"Yes, Mr. Fisher?"
"I want to talk about Project ALTER."
"Really, Mr. Fisher? My son gets eaten by an Evangelion and you want to know about Project ALTER?"
"Simply put? Yes."
He sighed. He reached into one of his desk drawers and pulled out a heavy notebook. Their were post-it notes on some pages, some pages were marked, and the cover itself looked slightly worn. On the cover was written "Project ALTER."

Underneath was written "Submitted by: Mondschein, Dream."

"You…?"
"That's right. I was the creative genius behind Project ALTER."
"But… why didn't you tell us?"
"Because I didn't think you would find anything. Old project notes, equations… They were all safe. But no. My predecessors just HAD to keep the one thing that made it blow up in our faces."
"How did it fail?"
"Well, the original project was to create a separate dimension. Hammerspace, if you will. A place where humans can go in the event of an Angel attack. A shelter reality, basically. All my equations were sound. They made sense, and in theory, the entire thing should have worked fine. But then the bastards decided to weaponize it."
"Explain."
"They made it into a weapon, plain and simple. Instead of making it into a simple shelter, they decided to make a cannon out of it. The cannon itself fired AR Energy. Essentially, it threw entire realities at the target. Now, even then, it shouldn't have failed. But no, the quartz crystals that I specified would have shattered after the first blast! They decided to bring in some Black crystal that I've never seen before and use that. It didn't shatter after the first shot. It didn't shatter ever. Instead, when the cannon fired, the crystal took the AR Energy, something it wouldn't have done if it shattered, and shorted out the system. It caused the entire system to go haywire and shoot AR Energy everywhere."
"Did you manage to stop it?"
"Oh yes. I stopped it. I went up to the surface, went to the cannon, and ripped the crystal out myself. Shut the whole thing down. Not before getting hit by it once or twice."
"You got hit by something like that?"
"Yup. Hurt like a bitch, too."
"How did you survive having a reality thrown at you?"
"My body absorbed it. I think the cannon itself was supposed to be anti-material, not anti-personnel. Now, I got this."
He pulled up his left sleeve, revealing his arm. The arm itself looked fine, except for the elbow joint that looked like a chunk of the night sky.
"What is that?"
"My own personal hammerspace. Not entirely useful, but I have managed to pull off some pretty neat stuff with it."
He pulled his sleeve back down, and from 'nowhere' pulled the original schematics of Project Telefrag.
"That's how you did it!"
"Yup."
"What about the ARKS?"
"They're 'Alternate Reality Kinetic Shielding.' Hardened AR Energy. Two things can happen with it. One, it can become similar to an AT Field and just block whatever is coming at it. Or it can effectively become a portal to hammerspace, and can seal objects away."
"Like with the bullets from Project Telefrag."
"Exactly."
"Can you make your own ARKS?"
"Don't know. Never tried."
"Boss, there's been a development."
Dr. Mondschein got up from his chair.
"What is it? Is it about my son?"
"Yup. He's out of the Eva. And he wants to have a word with you."

Angel designation "NA-03: Tree of Knowledge." Status: Destroyed by Evangelion Unit-04 and Evangelion Unit-14.

Pilot of Unit-14 temporarily absorbed by Unit-14. Status: Free, and slightly confused.