Celestial Being Chronicles - Chapter 112
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam series, nor any of the various series which are used or referenced in my fic, so please point that damned lawsuit cannon at someone else, also, don't read this if you are not of legal age to read such material. The story contains possibly disturbing content and should not be read by close-minded people (i.e., people who are easily offended.) Everything in the story is fictional. I am also not responsible for any actions taken by people who read this story and society's problems. I do, however, own my original character; Hope Yamato.
The JSSDF commander bit down hard on his cigar. On the radar screen, hostile forces were moving in from all sides.
"Deploy the Jet-VTOLs for a hit and run attack along the coastline." He said. "Arrange the tanks in a defense line, and get any civilians that can fire a gun and arm them. Send the police out to help with repelling infantry."
The commander chewed the end of his cigar with a grim smile.
"And don't forget the surprise. Stuff it with everything you can find. Let's make her maiden sortie a spectacular one."
A stream of missiles and shells sped from the jagged remains of the city and dashed towards the approaching fleet. On board, AA batteries broke out in a frenzy of deafening fire as the ships moved apart in evasive maneuvers. From the main carrier, a squadron of fighters launched, while ship-to-air missiles leapt from the battleships and destroyers. Flashes of light lit the air as fire from each side struck home. A destroyer's bridge shattered in an orange ball of flame, the Jet-VTOL that fired burst apart as AA rounds turned it into a beehive of crumpled metal. Tank main guns roared as they rumbled through the woods on the coast, and a TOW rocket launcher fired several fast bursts into a small, nearby vessel, turning the craft's broad side into a mountain of smoldering steel fragments.
Overhead, the Chinese MiGs swept down, machine guns chattering. Unable to counter the diving attack performed by the MiGs, the JSSDF VTOLs fell back, spitting machine cannon rounds and flares.
"The air defense force is falling back, sir." A young operator called. "They can't counter the MiGs! Eighteen percent of our VTOL gunships have been destroyed!"
The commander gritted his teeth. 'Even those cursed Evangelion Units can't repel an attack by highly maneuverable MiG-35s.'
The MiG squadron dived, as one, and locked on to several straggling gunships, machine guns and missiles at the ready.
A shaft of pure, brilliant white light blazed across the battlefield, and the fighters were instantly incinerated by it. Globs of molten metal splattered all over the field, and the white-hot remains crashed, in showers of sparks, onto the ground.
"Ah...what the hell? Sir, all the enemy aircraft have been shot down!" The operator squeaked. "It-it's an Eva!"
Heads snapped to the screen. Frantically, the operator called up an image of the rebuilt Evangelion Unit 02, kneeling on one knee with the NERV-X20P positron sniper rifle poised. Asuka shifted the rifle down towards the main carrier, and fired again. The blood-red sea hissed and burst into foamy steam as the beam scythed through the air above it and hit the carrier. The stream of light smashed right through, slicing it apart, along with a battleship right behind the carrier. The sea roared, as if in pain, and retreated from the blistering beam. As the waves merged again, the glowing ends of the carrier sank quickly, raising a cloud of steam as they cooled, creating a gigantic vortex that pulled lifeboats and support vessels off course and into a confused mob around the destroyed battleship. For a moment, the ship was silent, most of her superstructure having been melted away. As she drifted into the disorganized fleet, however, sparks raced across her mutilated deck, and the ship blew up in a spectacular fireball, throwing burning men, equipment, small tugboats and fragments of metal flying into the air. Deciding that following up with the attack was not wise; the survivors began to retreat.
"Oh no, you don't." The JSSDF commander muttered. "Launch the TRIDENT Land Cruiser!" He roared. "And tell the Eva to hold fire!"
Asuka laid the spent sniper rifle down on the monorail and reached for her sword. Just then, however, Misato's voice broke over the intercom. "Hold your fire, Asuka. The JSSDF wants to turn some new secret weapon loose on the survivors. Just retreat now."
"No, I will not!" Asuka declared angrily. "I can finish them off perfectly fine by myself!"
"Let the JSSDF show off." Misato said. "If you want, you can stay and do some reconnaissance on whatever they're going to use." She smiled inwardly and added. "Asuka, show them how Nerv does things when their secret weapon fucks up."
Catching her meaning, Asuka smiled back with just as much malice. "Understood, Major."
With an earth-shaking rumble, the TRIDENT emerged out of a hidden cove at the mouth of the harbor and clambered towards the ships. The remains of the fleet were now caught between a rock and a hard place, trapped by two very powerful machines, both of which were intent on destroying it. Asuka, out of a desire to mess things up for the much despised JSSDF, assumed a defensive stance, silently watching as the fleet quickly fell back towards her with detached interest. The dinosaur-like TRIDENT began to spew missiles from launchers on its back, and a tiny machine gun spat equally unimpressive rounds from under its chin. Asuka watched from Unit 02 as the monstrous piece of machinery tramples through the bay's crimson waters and chewed a torpedo boat into scrap with a blistering barrage. The three remaining destroyers split apart and churned through the water, firing as they broke formation, while torpedoes hissed through the water, exploding against the T-RIDENT-T's legs. Rockets shattered another torpedo boat's hull, sending men and equipment flying into the air as a flurry of missiles decapitated the TRIDENT, the head bouncing clean off of its neck, and pairs of torpedoes severed its knee joints, sending the overweight machine crashing off balance, pitching head first into the water, next to a pool of corpses and sunken hulls.
"Hey, Misato." Asuka said. "It looks like the JSSDF did mess up. Should I move in?"
In the bay, the last three destroyers pounded the inert hull of the TRIDENT. Bits and pieces of dark blue armor flew in all directions, and craters dotted the machine's exterior as smoke cleared.
"Why the hell isn't your Eva doing anything?" The JSSDF commander screamed through the phone.
"You told us to hold fire, didn't you?" Misato replied smoothly, but finally, as her professional sense nagged at her, she sighed. "Fine, Asuka, rescue their machine and its pilot."
A gigantic sword twirled through the air, before being caught by Unit 02's waiting palm.
"Guten morgen, everyone." Asuka said happily. "I'm back!"
With a screech of protesting metal, the broken end of the destroyer dislodged and splashed into the bay. Evangelion Unit 02 casually tossed the other end into another destroyer, and then sliced deep into the last one with its sword, opening the ship's hull wide like a gutted fish. In the water, men splashed and struggled as they tried to escape from the massive vortexes of water that the crimson machine created as it strode through the bay. Most failed, and drowned, bloated bodies littered the Eva's wake.
In the entry plug, Asuka flexed her body, stiff from the boredom of the last three years. The Eva that she was using somehow seemed creaky and slower than she remembered, but her indomitable spirit was satisfied.
"That was good exercise, Misato." She commented. The older woman sighed in resignation.
"Asuka, if you don't learn to act more lady-like, then all the good men will run away from you, and you'll never get married."
"MISATO!" Asuka screeched.
Misato smiled evilly as she continued. "And your secret crush will be too scared to kiss you again."
Asuka exploded into an outraged torrent of German, out of which Shinji could distinctly make out the word 'dummkoph' used in half a dozen different places.
Maya Ibuki leaned back and observed the scene with general satisfaction as she thought to herself. 'Their wounds are healing; they're a family again.'
Suddenly, one of the sensors blared out an alarm. Almost immediately, Unit 02 pitched forwards as an orange ball of flame erupted from its back. A moment later, the thundering shockwave sent a thundering clap through everyone's eardrums.
"What the-ASUKA!" Misato yelled as Unit 02 fell to one knee and collapsed into the murky waters.
"The A.T. Field just went down!" Maya warned. "We're losing contact with the Eva's systems; I think it's a rejection!"
"But what was that explosion?" Misato demanded.
"Armor-piercing high-explosive shell; it hit right after the A.T. Field failed!" Hyuga shouted.
"Asuka!" Shinji yelled. On the screen, Unit 02 remained inert. The communications system was deafeningly silent.
"Heavy damage to mechanical components on Unit 02's back. Communications are down; and..." Aoba stopped suddenly. "Oh shit! Neither plug ejection nor motor control is responding to my system sweep!"
"What does that mean?" Shinji demanded.
"It's probably too damaged; in addition, power management is functioning at only 41.5% of normal output due to a hit on the umbilical cable's power transfer system. Eva Unit 02's power supply has been reduced by 52.4% to account for the damaged components. The Magi are unanimously suggesting immediate withdraw of the Eva and replacement of the control unit block."
"Object approaching!" Hyuga snapped. "It's a-"
He stopped in amazement.
"What?" Misato demanded.
"Jet Alone...?" Hyuga sounded puzzled. "There's no radiation or any sign of nuclear fission within the core, though...wait a moment...let me try another scan..."
Misato glanced at the monitor and whispered. "Asuka, get the hell up already!"
"It hurts..." Asuka whimpered, it felt like there was a red-hot iron pressing down on her back. She hugged her knees and gasped in pain. All around her, Eva's cockpit displays crackled and hissed with static, and her body was strangely heavy, as if she didn't have enough energy to move it.
"Mama, help me." She implored to the dead metal all around her. "I'm scared."
She tried again to move the Eva. The controls were frozen. Overhead, a myriad of error messages blinked ominously at her. 'Error in the operation system...life support has been reduced to 10% of normal power...Eva set in Gain mode...auto-ejection error...unable to operate the communication system, 98.2% chance of hardware failure...what's going on?' Asuka thought, wincing as a fresh wave of discomfort raked her body. 'This damn heap of junk is broken...' She thought as she reached for the system log. 'Please; not the central computer, too...'
To her relief, a small screen appeared in front of her, logging the actions of Unit 02. Asuka quickly scanned down the list of fatal system failures and located the problem.
"Heavy impact on the control unit block; TNT explosion, recorded shrapnel damage, massive overload, power supply failure..."
Something wasn't adding up.
"I've been hit with a humongous armor-piercing shell." She thought aloud. "But then, what happened to the A.T. Field?"
"Critical A-10 Nerve Connection failure; rejection has occurred in bio-blocks D-25 through D-51; checklist unable to clear Absolute Borderline; synapses disconnected; motor neurons unable to receive instruction; pilot-machine link is unable to regain Phase-III. System Reset commencing; estimated time remaining: 00:05:30:00" The screen read.
Suddenly, the Eva jolted, and Asuka saw that something was lifting it off of the ground. Terror seized her mind.
'Whatever just disabled my A.T. Field's got me; an Angel? Mama, help me! Shinji? Misato? Kira? What the hell is wrong with this thing? Why can't I fight back?'
Shinji felt his palms moisten with sweat as the hulking Jet Alone picked up a completely limp Unit 02. Besides him, the technicians tapped away furiously at their consoles.
"The Eva is completely silent, ma'am." Aoba reported. It'll take another five minutes at the very least to reset the system and restore minimal operational capabilities.
Misato slammed her hand onto the console. "GOD DAMN IT!" She roared. "What kind of artillery shell can do this to an Eva?"
"A damn good shot." Hyuga said. "It hit right after the A.T. Field went down, and scythed through all of the most important systems. It's too good a shot..."
"You're suspecting an information leak?"
"Yes, ma'am. The Magi were perfectly functional when we found them, but there's no guarantee that nobody's tempered with them before we got in."
Misato gritted her teeth. "And would Asuka be safe?"
"I don't know; life support's down, and if she's captured...the entry plug's cap and the plug itself ought to hold out against most conventional cutters-"
"No, they won't." Shinji said suddenly. "The emergency exit on the plug is manually opened from the outside."
Everyone's heads snapped up.
"So-" Aoba began.
"We can't let that thing get away with Unit 02." Misato said grimly. "So I guess I'll have to put away mine and Nerv's pride."
She picked up the phone and began to dial the JSSDF.
Onboard the renegade super carrier Hiroshima, which was currently at anchor in the large bay that had been created only a few miles east of Tokyo-3 during Third Impact, the general let out a genuinely amused laugh.
"Such amateurs; haven't they even considered that such a massive weapon as the Jet Alone II might have the nesscary capabilities to fight the Evas?" He plopped a cigar into his mouth. "No matter; I'll have a little fun with that Eva pilot, whatever her name was, and then we'll see who's boss around here. Deploy an EMP strike for the entire Tokyo-3 area."
"Aye aye, sir." His first lieutenant said. "Contact the support carrier Fuji; the EMP is to be deployed across the entire Tokyo-3 area!"
Across from the super carrier, the Fuji coasted forwards while the super carrier and her maintenance ships fell back. The Fuji's entire flight deck had been cleared and replaced with a gargantuan electromagnetic coil, which was tipped with a large dish. Energy crackled over the coil, and nodes on the dish's edge began to glow as sinister blue sparks raced over the entire apparatus. The skeleton crew of the ship quickly evacuated, rowing with fanatical strength, until they were behind the invisible boundary of the EMP beam's area of effect. Closing his eyes and vainly trying to calm his racing heart, the captain pushed the remote firing button.
Suddenly, the Jet Alone crouched down, pulled the Eva out of the water, and wrapped her with its long arms, as a strange gel oozed from spouts that lifted free of the JA's armor and soon covered both machines. A blinding beam of stark blue energy filled the air, and millions of plasma tendrils snaked through the air and ground.
Maya leapt back from her console with a terrified scream as its surface unexpectedly came to life with an indeterminable number of coiled sparks. The giant screen flickered and shut down, and everyone's hair stood on end, crackling with static.
"It's an EMP!" Aoba exclaimed as his hair buzzed into a gigantic afro. Misato hissed in pain as sparks raced across her metal cross, and Shinji tumbled to the ground. For what seemed like forever, tendrils of energy wormed their way into every nook and crevice, hissing like a bed of vipers. When the EMP field finally subsided, the entirety of Nerv's central command center was on the floor, writhing and twitching in the after-effects of electrocution.
A single bolt of that strange electricity sliced straight through Asuka's heart, and she felt it go entirely haywire. A jagged scream tore out of her mouth, and when she breathed the LCL again, her lungs felt as if they'd been set ablaze by the electricity-laden, highly conductive fluid. Vainly, she tried to beat away the snaking tentacles, but they latched on to every part of her body, encircling her in a venomous embrace and burning her skin, the wounds instantly healing as her more divine abilities protected her life. She couldn't even breathe as her long, orange-red hair shot up and about like arrows, getting into her eyes, her nose, and conducting more of the damned electricity into her A-10 Nerve clips and straight into her brain.
"OH SCHEIßE, IT HURTS!" She howled, bubbles gurgling from her parched throat. Her eyes were wide, their pupils dilated until they were only tiny dots, as she clawed at herself. The entire LCL-flooded entry plug was a superconductor for waves after waves of power that sizzled away at the girl's body.
"Jet Alone systems all check out, sir; now recalling it to the ship with Eva Unit 02."
The general pulled on his cigar. "Good, good...ready the maintenance team; we'll cut through the back and pull out the entry plug." He tossed the cigar's spent butt to the floor. "Now, let's see who's boss; the useless bootlickers in Beijing or me."
"Careful! I said be careful with that thing, you dumbass!" The foreman shouted. "Don't damage it!"
"How are we supposed to damage that thing?" A worker grumbled. "It's made out of solid fucking titanium!"
Suddenly, somebody screamed. "It-it-it's moving!" Everybody froze. The Jet Alone whirled around, bazooka in hand, as the chains about the Eva snapped like paper links. Unit 02's eyes began to glow, not the usual white, but a deep, ominous crimson.
"Call the fucking bridge, you idiots!" The foreman roared. "Get help! If that thing wakes up then it's all over!"
Suddenly, the deck was filled with the howling of what seemed like a hurricane. The next moment, every worker and sailor on the deck disappeared in puffs of pulverized blood and bone, and the Jet Alone tumbled into the water, where it quickly sank. The super carrier's island collapsed in a crumpled wreckage of steel, and red blood welled clearly under the pile of metal and glass.
With a deep groan, Unit 02 sat up. The weight shift shook the carrier's hull violently, causing Unit 02 to slide to the edge before it grabbed the elevator, tearing it halfway from the deck.
Suddenly, a loud electrical crackle filled the sky, the telltale noise generated by rapidly charging rail guns. An instant later, a blinding flash lit up the sky, as the still cloaked Divinity Gundam fired a pair of rail gun shells at one of the support ships escorting the super carrier, the pair of hyper-velocity, beam-tipped shells effortlessly slicing through the hull of the ship, cleaving it in half. The Divinity, while remaining cloaked, dispatched the other support ships in the same manner before returning to the Excalibur, which had moved to lagrange point 2, behind the Moon, in order to avoid detection.